March 8 is International Women’s Day – part of larger recognition of Women’s History Month in March – which celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It also raises awareness about discrimination and provides avenues of support to help vulnerable women across the world.
Each year, the organization behind the celebration identifies missions to help forge a gender-equal world. One of the missions for 2023 is elevating the visibility of women creatives and recognizing them as a pulse of inspiration.
In honor of International Women’s Day and this year’s mission to celebrate women’s creativity, we are drawing attention to an upcoming performance by the international all-female musical powerhouse, LADAMA, at Walton Arts Center Thursday, March 30 at 7 pm.
This is a group of women who make music that truly inspires. They deliver an utterly unique experience as they flow from the electric to acoustic, from Spanish to English to Portuguese, and from the high plains of Venezuela to the Columbian coast. Their art transports us to a future where the world communicates across continents and cultures through sound and story. This quartet of Latin American female musicians – Mafer Fernanda, Lara Klaus, Daniela Serna and Sara Lucas – create a cross-cultural collaborative project, empowering women and children through the power of music.
“We met in 2014 at OneBeat which brings together musicians from around the world to create socially engaged projects and compose music together,” said Lucas. Fernanda remembers the musical residency program as the first place she experienced other women playing music professionally.
“Music should be a right, not a privilege.”
-Daniela Serna
The four women always individually wanted to educate and empower young people, and together, they knew they could collectively impact their communities through sound. For several years after residency at OneBeat, they crowdsourced and raised money to tour in their countries – Columbia, Venezuela, Brazil and the United States. More than just perform, the women decided to host workshops for anyone interested, because they believe that everyone is capable of creating music and art. “As educators, we are talking about the music industry and about how to use music as a tool of creation and social change. Both the musical and educational sides of what we do are very important to us,” said Klaus.
“We’re not sharing just music, but its oral tradition and its ancestral knowledge. Music should be a right, not a privilege.” Serna said. Their music features traditional Latin instruments – typically male-dominated skills – blended with modern percussion and genre, such as pop.
OYE MUJER, the group’s second full-length album, is a declaration to women and a call to humanity. This collection of songs in English, Spanish and Portuguese channel the personal experiences of being human amid global crises, unprecedented climate destruction and immigration. While each “dama” (lady in Spanish) takes her turn delivering powerful vocals, the other women support her as instrumentalists and arrangers, a beautiful symbolic image of women supporting female changemakers throughout history.
“Mysterio,” their first single, is a celebration of femininity. It’s about female emancipation and is an invitation to embrace our bodies and to embrace diversity, declaring “there is no one ideal body type,” said Serna. “It's important to use songs as an educational tool to sing to generations of women who aren't going to be oppressed by patriarchic ideas. These are the kinds of conversations we want to start.”
Now that you’ve met the musical group LADAMA, meet the amazing individual women who make up the band.
Mafer Fernanda
Mafer Fernanda is a bandola llanera performer, self-taught composer, community organizer and educator. As a teaching artist, she works for The Lullaby Project, an initiative of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. The program pairs parents and caregivers with professional artists to write and sing personal lullabies for their babies, supporting maternal health, aiding childhood development and strengthening the bond between parent and child. She also works for the Afro-Latin Jazz Alliance, a performing and educational organization that aims to preserve the music of the Americas, emanating from African and indigenous roots, through the entry point of jazz.
Lara Klaus
Lara Klaus is a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer, educator and music therapist. Klaus’ focus is on mastering traditional percussion on the pandeiro, alfaia, zabumba and other world music instruments along with the rhythms of Northeast Brazil. In addition to performing, Klaus has taught workshops for all ages throughout South America, Europe and the U.S. She participates in NGO Integrarte, where she works with musicians with Down syndrome, and for several years she was musical director of the Maracarte percussion group.
Daniela Serna
Daniela Serna is a Colombian composer, percussionist, educator and sound artist. She is the founder of La Perla, an all-female Caribbean folk band, who recently won the XXXI Festival de Gaita larga Francisco Llirene in Ovejas, Sucre. In 2014, she presented Bullerengue Covers, a sound installation exploring the sonics of tambour alegre, the hand drum. In 2012, she won a Señal Radio Colombia contest to perform with legendary folksinger bullerengue queen Petrona Martínez.
Sara Lucas
Sara Lucas is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. As co-bandleader of New York- based Callers, a project she founded with multi-instrumentalist and composer Ryan Seaton, she has co-produced and released three full-length albums, Fortune, Life Of Love and Reviver. Callers has earned spots at festivals including Primavera Club and Tanned Tin Festival in Spain, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry at BAM, Festival de la Musica Nelle in Italy and the Hillside Fest in Ontario. In 2015, Lucas served as a facilitator for production workshops with youth in Brooklyn and Hudson, New York, with Found Sound Nation and Hear Be Dragons.
LADAMA continues to use their platform to advocate and inspire, fostering generations of musicians and leaders. In the same way, women throughout history have raised their voice to advocate for change and equality, creating a more beautiful world of possibility and opportunity.
Join us this women’s history month to hear this group of exceptional international women at Walton Arts Center on March 30. Tickets are only $10.