Okan | Las Estrellas
2022
PM
MEL LEHAN HALL AT ST. JAMES i
3214 West 10th Ave, Kitsilano
Accessible 
All ages
This event has already taken place.
Please read our COVID-19 Policy at the bottom of the page. Thank you!
Okan
Born in Havana, Cuba, Elizabeth Rodriguez is a classically trained violinist who served as concertmaster for Havana’s Youth Orchestra. Magdelys Savigne hails from Santiago de Cuba and graduated with honours in orchestral percussion from Havana’s University of the Arts. Both are also Grammy-nominees for their contributions to Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, of which they are former members. Having recently worked with Bomba Estereo, Lido Pimienta and Bianca Gismonti, Okan follows up on their Juno-nominated and Independent Music Award-winning debut album Sombras, with their Juno Award-winning album Espiral, out on the Lulaworld Records label.
"OKAN‘s vocal- and percussion-driven tracks evoke their homeland yet also reflect the vibrant Cuban-Canadian community.” — NOW Magazine
"Espiral, the astonishing followup to their Juno-nominated 2019 debut, push[es] Latin jazz into new and unexpected territories...[Espiral is] lush and vibrant, urgent but specific and deeply intentional. — CBC Music
Las Estrellas de Vancouver
Vancouver’s only all-female mariachi band was formed during the summer of 2014 by Michelle Cormier, Mariachi Las Estrellas is comprised of a diverse, talented, and dedicated group of women musicians from a variety of backgrounds, including players from classical, jazz and world music. While all of them are involved in a variety of different projects, they came together out of their common love for mariachi music. The ensemble’s goal is to explore, in depth, the music of Mexico, a culture rich and varied in its musical traditions.
Traditionally the musical stomping ground of men, with the songs reflecting the male perspective, the rise in all-female mariachi groups here and in other locales reflects an empowering movement in the music form. In addition to playing at a range of concert and festival events, Las Estrellas have participated in the first International Women’s Mariachi Festival in Tlaxcala, Mexico – and have hosted two Women’s Mariachi events here with guest historian and founder of the Women’s Mariachi Foundation in San Diego, California, Dr. Leonor Xochitl Perez. Come revel in the sounds of this exciting and emotions music. Come celebrate the strong presence of women in mariachi! Que vivan las mujeres en mariachi!
Our COVID-19 Policy: We will continue to require vaccination passports for all our events. We will continue to make masks mandatory when not seated - and recommended at all times. We will continue to limit the room capacity to 70%. We will continue to offer streamed concerts as a safe alternative to attending shows in-person.
The Rogue Folk Club is pleased to provide great Sponsorship Opportunities for all our shows. For a nominal cost, individuals or businesses can sponsor any of our shows and reap a number of benefits - free tickets, reserved table, recognition on literature, our web site and at the concerts. For more information simply contact our Sponsorship Director Morris Biddle at mobiddley@me.com