Nazareth College Arts Center Series celebrates Latinx Heritage Month with Gina Chavez

Austin Female Vocalist of the Year makes Rochester debut on October 5

Rochester, NY (09/17/2019) — The Nazareth College Arts Center opens the 2019-2020 series of touring performances with Latin-pop singer and songwriter Gina Chavez in the Jane and Laurence Glazer Music Performance Center on Saturday, October 5 at 8 p.m.

THE PERFORMANCE
Gina Chavez is blending the sounds of the Americas with tension and grace. A 12-time Austin Music Award winner, including 2019 Female Vocalist and 2015 Austin Musician of the Year, Gina Chavez explores the true meaning of "Americana" as she and her five-piece band take audiences on a high-energy journey through Latin America and beyond. She performs original, bilingual music that mixes cumbia, bossa nova, vintage pop, reggaeton, and folk.

Chavez's bilingual album, Up.Rooted, topped the Amazon and Latin iTunes charts following a feature on NPR's All Things Considered and her NPR Tiny Desk concert has more than 850,000 views. Her national TV debut is now airing on PBS stations throughout the U.S. Her Spanish-language anthem, "Siete-D," won the grand prize in the John Lennon International Songwriting Contest and recounts her experience volunteering in a gang-dominated suburb of San Salvador where she and her wife co-founded Niñas Arriba, a college fund for young Latinas. The fund celebrated its first two college graduates in 2016. Chavez is currently back in the States after returning from a 12-country tour as cultural ambassadors with the U.S. State Department.

"Gina Chavez is not only an amazing performer, but she is an activist as well" said Rita Mannelli, executive director of the Arts Center. "Her music explores longing, faith, beauty, and sacrifice, and we are pleased to bring her to Rochester during Latinx Heritage Month."

Chavez is currently touring her newest album Lightbeam, which explores the journey and hardships she and her wife have undergone to be able to publicly express their love for each other as Catholic Latinx women. Revered by critics, the album treads "slow-burn soul and uptempo R&B" (NPR).

TICKETS
Tickets to see Gina Chavez are $25-$40 and are available online at artscenter.naz.edu, by phone at (585) 389-2170, or in person at the Nazareth College Arts Center Box Office at 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, N.Y. 14618.

Regular box office hours are Monday-Friday, 11 a m.- 5 p.m. and 11 a.m. until curtain time on performance days.

ABOUT
The Nazareth College Arts Center has been Rochester's premiere performing arts center for world-class music, theatre, dance, and family entertainment since 1967. The Arts Center serves as a venue and educational resource for students, educators, artists, and audiences of all ages to create, study, and experience the visual and performing arts. The live performances of the Arts Center Series provide area residents with opportunities to engage with touring artists from across the country and around the world. The K-12 school performance series serves over 10,000 students each year with content-rich experiences that augment classroom learning. The Departments of Art, Music, and Theatre and Dance present exceptional productions, recitals, and exhibitions, which are open to the public, while preparing students for successful careers in arts-related fields.

The Nazareth College Arts Center's 2019-20 season is sponsored by The Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation and M&T Bank.

Media please note: High-resolution photos are available here.

Interviews and photo/footage opportunities may also be arranged. Contact Michelle Shippers, Marketing and Publicity Manager at 389-2093 or mshippe0@naz.edu.

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