Mexican spirit comes alive: a Día de los Muertos salute with Lila Downs

On Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, Symphony Center hosted the incredible Lila Downs, and what a performance she delivered! The evening was a vibrant celebration of Mexican sounds, folklore and joyous rhythms that filled Orchestra Hall to the brim with people of all ages. Anyone seeing her live for the first time likely walked out with a newfound love for Mexican culture (just saying!).

I had the privilege of interviewing her back in June 2016, alongside Loida Rosario, then Latino Alliance co-chair, when Downs performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As usual, her songs carried a profound resonance, blending classical and Mexican instrumentation, that time accompanied by our very own CSO musicians.

At a post-concert reception, we discussed her impressive career as a Grammy-winning Mexican-American singer-songwriter and actress whose music defies conventional categories. Her 2016 performance showcased tracks from her 2015 album “Balas y Chocolate” (“Bullets and Chocolate”), along with traditional selections. The CSO opened that concert with Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 2, a perfect prelude to Downs’ fusion of styles, weaving elements from soul, jazz, blues, rap and even klezmer into something uniquely her own.

This time, Downs appeared again in stunning traditional Mexican attire, honoring Día de los Muertos, and incorporated indigenous Mexican influences, as well as Latin-American folk and pop styles. Her repertoire included Colombian cumbia and the beloved Peruvian cumbia “Cariñito,” written by Ángel Aníbal Rosado Garcí of Lima.

After the concert, the spirit of celebration was still alive as Latino Alliance families and friends, many in groups, gathered in Symphony Center’s Rotunda. The evening opened with a lively mariachi serenade, creating a true Día de los Muertos celebration and honoring those we’ve lost in the CSO family.

It’s moments like these that underscore the strong community spirit we have here at Symphony Center, with groups and families coming together to celebrate and enjoy our Chicago Symphony Orchestra. What a fantastic night!

Set list for her Oct. 27 concert

1. “Tirineni Tsïtsïki” (Traditional, arr. Paul Cohen/Lila Downs, from “Una Sangre,” 2004)

2. “Mandimbo” (Cohen/Downs, “La Sánchez,” 2023)

3. “La Campanera” (Aniceto Molina, “Al Chile,” 2019)

4. “Conjuro” (E. Cantoral/M. de la Garza /L. Molina, “La Sánchez”)

5. “Son de Difuntos” (Cohen/Downs, “Balas y Chocolate,” 2015)

6. “Urge” (Martín Urieta, “Salon, Lagrimas y Deseo,” 2017)

7. “Fuiste Feliz” (Cohen/Downs, “La Sánchez”)

8. “La Curación” (Downs, “La Sánchez”)

9. “Dos Corazones” (Miguel Luna, “La Sánchez”)

10. “Dear Someone” (Gillian Welch/David Rawlings, “Al Chile,” 2019)

11. “La Cigarra” (Raymundo Pérez y Soto, “Mexico de Mi Corazon,” 2019)

12. “En El Último Trago” (José Alfredo Jiménez, “La Sanchez”)

13. “Viene la Muerte Echando Rasero” (Cohen/Downs, “Balas y Chocolate”)

14.  “Zapata Se Queda” (Cohen/Downs, “Pecados y Milagros,” 2011)

15. “Cumbia del Mole” (Cohen/Downs, “La Cantina,” 2006/“Cariñito,” Ángel Aníbal Rosado Garcí, “Al Chile”)

ENCORES

“La Llorona” (Traditional, arr. Cohen/Downs, “La Sandunga,” 1999; also “Al Chile”)

“Mezcalito” (Cohen/Downs, “Pecados y Milagros”)