Perla Batalla. Courtesy photoNHCC News:
ALBUQUERQUE ― As part of the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Festival Chispa and signature Latin Diva Series, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Perla Batalla will perform at 7:30 p.m., March 11 at the Center in the Albuquerque Journal Theatre.
Tickets are $12, $17, and $22, with a $2 discount for students, seniors, and NHCC members, and are available from the NHCC Box Office, at 505.724.4771, or at www.nhccnm.org.
Formerly a Leonard Cohen back-up singer, the Los Angeles-born vocalist launched her solo career with Cohen’s encouragement.
Since then she’s recorded seven albums, been featured in films and television, and taken her unique sound on tour to some of the most prestigious venues around the world. The L.A. Times writes, “Batalla is comfortable in both English and Spanish, proud of her mestiza heritage, musically adventurous and always accompanied by impeccable performers … above all, she is a born storyteller with a rambunctious sense of humor.”
Perla Batalla was born into a family literally immersed in music; her father was a Mexican singer and radio personality, and her Argentine mother ran a bustling record store called Discoteca Batalla.
At the record shop, she was exposed to a non-stop stream of music cutting across genre and language. These far-ranging influences are reflected in the eclectic songs she composes, arranges, and performs today, while the power and purity of her voice make each song a unique and lovely gift to her audiences.
Batalla’s mission of honoring her roots and exposing young audiences to the beauty of both music and the Spanish language has led her to reach out to some of the poorest communities in the United States. She is the recipient of the United Nations’ Earth CharterAward for “extraordinary devotion to social and economic justice,” as well as the Premio Fronterizo Award for “healing work in the world.”
This presentation is part of NHCC’s Women’s History month, which runs for the length of March. All Women’s History Month programming is available on our website: http://www.nhccnm.org/event/womens-history-month/.
