Note: This blog is an approved excerpt from Victoria Looseleaf’s “Magos Herrera’s Reply to Violence: Dreamers” article for the San Francisco Classical Voice.
Magos Herrera, born in Mexico City and now based in New York, has been hailed by Latin Jazz Network as “one of the greatest contemporary interpreters of song,” while NPR described her as “recalling great communicators like Édith Piaf or Billie Holiday.” Indeed, whether dazzling audiences with her smoky-voiced stylings as a solo artist, singing in Spanish, English, or Portuguese, or collaborating with the adventurous string quartet Brooklyn Rider, this singer-songwriter, producer, and educator has it all — and then some.
Having released Dreamers with Brooklyn Rider in 2018, an album that celebrates the power of beauty as a political act — the title refers to young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the States as children — Herrera is currently on a U.S. tour with the quartet and will be performing at the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University on May 11, 2023 and at The Soraya in Northridge on May 13, 2023.
Herrera graduated from the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles in 1992 and then went to Boston to continue her studies in contemporary improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music. While in her hometown, she released five albums and was also part of the compilation series Mexican Divas (2001 and 2003). Moving to New York in 2008, Herrera embarked on multiple projects, collaborating with artists such as the Kronos Quartet’s then-cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, visual artist Erika Harrsch, and producers Javier Limón and Tim Ries. Her latest album, Aire, which was largely recorded during the pandemic, drops this month.
Note: This blog is an approved excerpt from Victoria Looseleaf’s “Magos Herrera’s Reply to Violence: Dreamers” article for the San Francisco Classical Voice. The article continues with an interview with Magos Herrera where the artist describes her musical influences, the many stories told on the “Dreamers” album, and how she connected with Brooklyn Rider. To continue reading, click here.