For Immediate Release: Press Contacts: March XX, 2016 Eileen Chambers, 312.294.3092 Photos Available By Request
[email protected] SINGER-SONGWRITER LILA DOWNS JOINS THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA JUNE 28 FOR AN EVENING OF MUSIC INCLUDING SELECTIONS FROM HER LATEST RELEASE BALAS Y CHOCOLATE Tickets on Sale Tuesday, March 8 CHICAGO – The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA) is pleased to announce the addition of a Special Concert for the 2015/2016 season. Singer-songwriter and multi-Grammy® Award-winning artist, Lila Downs, performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) led by guest conductor Donato Cabrera, on Tuesday, June 28 at 7:30 p.m. The program features Downs performing with the CSO in selections from her 2015 release Balas y Chocolate (Bullets and Chocolate) as well as traditional selections chosen by Downs. Born in Oaxaca, Mexico to a Mixtec Indian mother and a British-American father, Downs’ music reflects a childhood which straddled Mexican and North American cultures. Her style embraces traditional folk music from the U.S. and Mexico while also fusing jazz, blues, hip-hop, cumbia, and even klezmer influences. With lyrics in English, Spanish, Portuguese and indigenous Mexican languages, she sings of social justice, the search for cultural roots and the lives of Mexican migrant workers in the United States. Beginning with her 1994 debut album, Ofrenda, Downs has released 12 studio albums garnering multiple Grammy® nominations and ultimately earning both a Grammy® and a Latin Grammy® for her 2011 release, Pecados y Milagros. She has been invited to sing at the White House, the 75th Annual Academy Awards®, the 2012 Latin Grammy® Awards, and has performed at music festivals around the world and at prestigious venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and the San Francisco Symphony’s Davies Hall.