Natalia Lafourcade’s roots are in Veracruz, Mexico, where she grew up surrounded by music as the daughter of music teachers. She began writing songs at an early age; by 17, she signed a record deal with Sony Music. Her 2002 self-titled debut album topped the charts in Mexico, earning her a Latin Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. In the decade that followed, her recording career took off with the critically acclaimed works Casa (2005), Hu Hu Hu (2009), and Mujer divina (2013). In 2015, she released the breakthrough album Hasta la Raíz (Down to the Root), attributing its success to a reconnection with her cultural roots, which she went on to explore further in Musas (2017). Her following project, Un canto por México (2020), received the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year. Her most recent body of work, De Todas las Flores, will be released tomorrow (October 28, 2022).

Ms. Lafourcade has received 14 Latin Grammy Awards—the most of any female recording artist—as well as two Grammys. She has been described as “one of the most successful singer-songwriters in Latin America” (NPR), with a “shape-shifting, dynamically intrepid voice” (Los Angeles Times), “a finely calibrated balance of vintage and new sounds in her music” (The New York Times), and “masterful songwriting” in which “heartache has rarely sounded so uplifting” (Rolling Stone). In the US, she has been featured on radio and television programs, including Soundcheck (WNYC), Live from Here with Chris Thile and Tiny Desk (NPR), Austin City Limits (PBS), and Song Exploder (Netflix). She performed at the 2018 Academy Awards ceremony, singing the Oscar-winning theme song “Remember Me” from the Disney/Pixar film Coco.

Throughout her 20-year career, Ms. Lafourcade has performed extensively across the Americas and Europe, in venues from Lincoln Center in New York to Koko in London and the Bataclan in Paris. In 2019, she gave a concert of her repertoire with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic to a sold-out audience at the Hollywood Bowl. Later that year, she presented a benefit concert at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, raising funds to rebuild a cultural center in Jáltipan, Veracruz that was destroyed in an earthquake. Tonight, Ms. Lafourcade is delighted to make her Carnegie Hall debut.

Omara Portuondo’s resplendent career as an entertainer began in 1945 when she was a dancer in the Havana Tropicana Cabaret. Soon after, she found her calling in song during a “golden age” of traditional music in her home country, Cuba. In the 1950s and ’60s, she performed with legendary artists such as Édith Piaf, Pedro Vargas, Nat King Cole, and Benny Moré. She is a founding member of the Buena Vista Social Club, a musical collective that has captivated audiences worldwide since 1996. In 2017, Ms. Portuondo collaborated with Natalia Lafourcade on the songs “Tú me acostumbraste” and “Desdeñosa” released as part of Ms. Lafourcade’s multi-volume work Musas. This evening’s performance is the first time Ms. Portuondo and Ms. Lafourcade have sung together for a live audience. 

Jorge Drexler is an internationally acclaimed, multifaceted artist. He is the first Uruguayan musician to win an Academy Award (for his song “Al otro lado del río” featured in the movie The Motorcycle Diaries), and he has received five Latin Grammy Awards. Like both of his parents, he studied medicine and became a practicing doctor. He also had a passion for music, having taken piano, guitar, and composition lessons from the age of five. At age 30, he made the decision to leave medicine and become a full-time musician. He has collaborated with Caetano Veloso, Shakira, Mercedes Sosa, Julieta Venegas, and Joaquín Sabina, among many others. Mr. Drexler has worked with Natalia Lafourcade on songs such as “Salvavidas de hielo,” “Para qué sufrir,” and “Oración Caribe” in a creative relationship that extends over two decades.