La Donna Musicale and Rumbarroco continue a musical exploration that extends from the Iberian Renaissance to Indigenous and African-influenced folk traditions in contemporary South America.

This program includes some of the earliest songs referring to Morenas—dark-skinned women who represented the female ideal of beauty outside the court in early modern Spain. These are songs about pride, self-empowerment, resistance, and how much love and passion was felt for the Morenas. The repertory is drawn from sources ranging from Spanish Cancioneros (“songbooks”) to the Song of Songs, and other selections with their endearing depictions of Morenas, to popular, more contemporary expressions of dark-skinned women in South America. Most of these songs are peppered with Afro-Latin rhythms.

Also included are Iberian and Afro-descended dances in a performance that connects the sounds of the past with dances from the Latin America of today. Selections include music from the Coimbra manuscript, and by Gabriel Diaz, Juan de Herrera, Manuel Machado, and others.

Performers:
Adriana Ruiz, soprano; Daniela Tosic, mezzo-soprano; Fausto Miro, tenor

Julia Connor, violin; Eduardo Betancourt, harp & percussion

Juan Sebastian Sanchez, percussion; Katherine Shao, keyboards

Kirsten Lamb, bass and Laury Gutierrez, viola da gamba & Venezuelan cuatro