In October 2017, Natalia Lafourcade joined Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall for the first time, and the energy was electric. “There was a bridge between our universes, between the orchestra and my band, but also a bridge with the people, a bridge between cultures, people from different countries with different languages. Music has the power to unite souls, hearts. It is the universal language,” says Natalia. Conducting that night, Dudamel felt it too. He recalls: “People were spiritually connected and transformed—there was a magnificent power.”

Tonight’s concert—the third collaboration in this fertile partnership—unites musical forces across borders, genres, and languages to celebrate nothing less than our shared humanity. Natalia mines this subject in her 2022 album De todas las flores, which she describes as a “musical diary of a journey back to her inner garden” as well as a meditation on Mother Earth. She performs selections from this latest album alongside other songs that honor her special artistic relationship with Dudamel and the LA Phil.

The evening opens with a trio of symphonic selections by Latin American composers, who deftly transcend categories, marrying popular and classical music traditions: Roberto Sierra’s exuberant Alegría, Arturo Márquez’s lively Danzón No. 9, and Gabriela Ortiz’s Antrópolis, based on Mexico City’s vibrant nightlife. In this melding of various voices and backgrounds, Dudamel sees a metaphor for contemporary society: “I think that’s the mission of music, beyond entertaining, to transform the world—a world that is so polarized and chaotic, but also beautiful and hopeful.”

—Amanda Angel