Monday Evening, March 5, 2018, 6:00

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing

Arts
DAVID M. RUBENSTEIN, Chairman Please be advised:
DEBORAH F. RUTTER, President Patrons seated in this area may be filmed for the
broadcast of this event on the Kennedy Center’s
website.
Presents
SEATING IS ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS.

Flor de We regret that as the theater reaches capacity,

seats cannot be saved for patrons who have
not arrived or are not next in line.

Toloache Thank you for understanding.

Please refrain from using audio or video recording equipment

during the performance.

Due to safety and security considerations, please refrain from

standing in the aisles during the performance. If you have any
questions, the uniformed ushers are available to assist you.

Please silence all cell phones and electronic devices during

the performance.

Artist Liaison and Multimedia Broadcaster volunteers,

part of the Friends of the Kennedy Center volunteer program,
assist staff at the Millennium Stage every night of the year.

Tonight at the Kennedy Center

7:00 PM Washington National Opera

House
Opera: Don Carlo

This performance, as part of DIRECT CURRENT, the Kennedy Center’s

celebration of contemporary culture, is presented as part of the 8:00 PM Shear Madness Theater
Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives.
Lab

Please visit the Box Office for information on ticket


About DIRECT CURRENT
Modern masterpieces, cutting-edge composition, dance,
drag, film, jazz, Hip Hop, video games, and electronica
all converge in DIRECT CURRENT, the Kennedy Center’s
two-week celebration of contemporary culture. From
interdisciplinary creations in which artistic worlds collide
to innovative responses to topical concerns, this
immersive music-driven experience showcases some of
the most potent, provocative, and original voices in
American arts today.
In this inaugural season of DIRECT CURRENT, culture
mavens and the culturally curious will witness, act, and
interact as artistic risk-takers use their art to spark
introspection, conversation, and action. This current of
creativity spreads throughout the city, with events at
The Phillips Collection, Dupont Underground, and the
9:30 Club as well as the Kennedy Center. With many free
events, workshops, and talk-backs, DIRECT CURRENT
invites you to plug in and electrify your mind.
Flor de Toloache continues to win the hearts of both
mainstream and traditional mariachi music fans alike
through their distinct artistic vision and sophisticated,
enlightened interpretation of traditional mariachi music.
The Latin Grammy®-winning group replaces the
traditional machismo of mariachi with all-female power-
—in lyrics, style, passion, and attitude—and highly
skilled musicianship to match.
About the Artists
Latin Grammy®-winner Flor de Toloache makes New York
City history as its first-and-only, all-female mariachi
group. Founded in 2008, Flor de Toloache is led by
singers Mireya I. Ramos and Shae Fiol. Reminiscent of
the early days of mariachi, the group started as a trio:
harp, violin, and vihuela. Today, Flor De Toloache
performs as a full mariachi ensemble. The members hail
from diverse cultural backgrounds such as Mexico,
Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Colombia,
Germany, Italy, and the United States. This defines their
unique flavor and sound. The result of this cultural
bouquet is an edgy, versatile, and fresh take on
traditional Mexican music. They coalesce as would a
band of sisters, with a grace and vibrant beauty that
casts a spell over their audiences not unlike the
legendary toloache flower still being used in Mexico as a
love potion. While working to preserve centuries-old
traditions of Mariachi, their mélange of the traditional
and the modern pushes the boundaries of the genre and
brings mariachi music to new audiences.
Over the course of the last few years, Flor de Toloache’s
performances have illuminated world-renowned stages
in Europe and India. In 2015 and 2016, the group
embarked on an extensive European and U.S. tour as
the opening act of Black Keys’s singer Dan Auerbach’s
new band The Arcs. After performances to sold-out
audiences in the U.K., Germany, Holland, Italy, and
France, they continued to captivate crowds in the U.S. at
legendary venues such as First Avenue in Minneapolis,
The Vic in Chicago, Terminal 5 in New York, D.C.’s 9:30
Club, and Nashville’s Ryman Theater (The Grand Ole
Opry), as well as Coachella. In 2017, Flor de Toloache
completed a tour with Cafe Tacvba throughout the U.S.
The ladies will finish out the year with a celebratory Day
of the Dead tour with Grammy®-winning act La Santa
Cecilia and Mexrrissey. They will share the stage with
Natalia Lafourcade, Mon Laferete, Carlos Rivera, and
Gaby Moreno at the House of Blues in Anaheim,
California.
Flor De Toloache’s critically acclaimed self-titled debut
album received a Latin Grammy ® nomination for Best
Ranchero/Mariachi Album in 2015. Sharing the podium
with legends Pedro Fernández and Aida Cuevas was an
embrace from the Latin music community. In 2017, their
latest album Las Caras Lindasreleased and won the Latin
Grammy® for Best Ranchero album, which features
collaborations with Pedrito Martinez and Velcro, and it
was produced by Felipe Fournier.

The group’s live performances are praised by Rolling

Stone, Billboard Magazine, The New Yorker, GQ
Magazine, and the New York Times. Following a highly
praised NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, their collaboration with
rock super group The Arcs landed them on the Late
Show with Stephen Colbert, and BBC 2’s Later with Jools
Holland.

Ran by New York City salsa powerhouse Los Hacheros’s

leader Jacob Plasse, Chulo Records, the home of the
band’s new record Las Caras Lindas was also the
connecting bridge between Mariachi Flor De Toloache
and The Arcs, with whom Flor De Toloache recorded
Yours, Dreamily, released in the fall of 2015. Also
recently released were collaborations and featured
appearances of Flor De Toloache on Chicano Batman’s
new album Freedom is Free; No Te Va Gustar’s new
album Suenan Las Alarmas; the band’s special
arrangement of “(That’s What I Want for Christmas)” on
Paul McCartney’s production Holiday Rules Vol. 2, which
also features acts such as The Roots, Norah Jones, and
The Decemberists; and Luba Mason’s new record
Mixtura, produced by Jimmy Haslip and Luba Mason.
More releases include three collaborations with Fania
Records, recorded and filmed live for the legendary
label.