The Poet of Havana

Performances

The Poet of Havana

Carlos Varela presented by YBCA |

December 3, 2016

YBCA presents legendary Cuban nueva trova singer-songwriter Carlos Varela, showcasing a musical style that developed in post-revolutionary Cuba. The genre of nueva trova emerged as a voice of the people, and was further modernized in the 1990s during Periodo Especial (the Special Period). A revolutionary within a revolution, his lyrics broach topics of social justice and everyday life in Havana. His music frames his HBO documentary Carlos Varela, The Poet of Havana, shown in conjunction with the concert. Varela’s music will be available for sale so you can take a piece of Cuba home.

About Carlos Varela

Uplifting and defiant, some times soothing and sometimes explosive, the Cuban musician Carlos Varela is courageously outspoken in the manner of a true revolutionary, albeit one
who now finds himself in the curious position of sometimes being critical of the ongoing (fifty-four years now) revolution in his own country.

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Playbill for SF Sonido Fest

“How do memories shape us? How do we feel when we remember the color of a particular sky, the flora and fauna we breathed and walked among as youngsters, the sounds
of a street, our grandmother’s hands, our best friend’s laughter?”

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Lead photo: Graffiti Music Group

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is grateful to the City of San Francisco for its ongoing support.

YBCA Programs in 16-17 are made possible in part by: The James Irvine Foundation.

Additional Funding for YBCA Programs 16-17: National Endowment for the Arts, Adobe, Abundance Foundation, Gaia Fund, Grosvenor, and Members of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

The Leslie and Merle Rabine 2016-17 Performance Season is made possible in part by: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Panta Rhea Foundation.

Additional Funding for YBCA Performances 16-17: Surdna Foundation, Salesforce.com, and Zellerbach Family Foundation.