Music of the Americas: New Online Season

Tuesday, September 24, 10 am

Elena La Fulana (Elena Lacayo) is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter born in Managua who moved to the United States in 2002 to attend college in Indiana and upon graduation moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue a career in advocacy. After building a career lobbying for just national and state immigration laws, she transitioned to focus on music in 2012. 

With her band and as a soloist, Lacayo has played in venues including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She has toured regionally and internationally. Most recently, she began touring with the Latin Grammy-winning all-female mariachi group, Flor de Toloache, with whom she has performed at the Kennedy Center Awards and the Latin Grammys. 

She sent us a solo version of "Qué linda es mi tierra"—a song dedicated to Nicaragua. 

Wednesday, September 25, 10 am

Peruvian multi-instrumentalist Claudio Constantini performs with “total elegance at the piano and bandoneon,” according to the Chicago Tribune. He has performed around the world and received several awards, including a Global Music Award in 2021 and a Latin Grammy nomination in 2019. He complements his concert performances with his passion for composition.

From his home in Madrid, he sent us two videos. On September 25, we share the "Adagio" movement of J.S. Bach's Concerto BWV 974. This piece is Bach's arrangement of the 2nd movement of the Concerto for Oboe and Strings by Alessandro Marcello, which Constantini has now adapted for bandoneon.

Thursday, September 26, 10 am

Medicentuna (Martina Venegas) is a Chilean singer-songwriter living in Frutillar, a small city in the country's lake district, where she has built a successful musical career. She has participated in music festivals such as PiedrAndina, Tronador Fest, and M.A.G.M.A, a local event for women in the music industry. Through the "Frutillar Ciudad Creativa de la Música" program, she traveled to South Korea to participate in the “UNESCO Daegu Music Week” and to Kansas City to present her music at “Show and Shed Jazz Workshop 2023” Festival. 

Despite not identifying with a specific musical genre, her main influence is Chilean folklore. She believes that those who listen to her music can imagine that it floats between clouds, their heart suspended between the occasional tear of peace.

Accompanied by guitarist Tomás Parra Alonso, she sent us two songs. On September 26, we share a new version of "Suele suceder."

The MetLife Foundation Music of the Americas concert series is made possible by the generous support of Presenting Sponsor MetLife Foundation.

The Fall 2024 Music program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, by the Howard Gilman Foundation, by the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, by the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and by the Mex-Am Cultural Foundation.