Latin Sounds: MAYEYA and Bomba Borkén

Spend your Saturday evenings with world-renowned artists performing everything from Indigenous music to the latest sounds from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, and Los Angeles! These free concerts are presented Saturday evenings from Memorial Day weekend in May to Labor Day weekend in September. This double-bill concert features two ensembles bringing South American and Caribbean sounds and rhythms to Los Angeles: MAYEYA and Bomba Borkén

MAYEYA is a sisterhood of artists that blends Latin American folklore with ancestral knowledge, creating space for women’s voices in traditions long dominated by men. Rooted in the rhythms of the African diaspora, including traditions from Peru, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Haiti, with an emphasis in Afro-Cuban Orisha rhythms, MAYEYA is led by Peruvian percussionist and vocalist Diana Andrea Soto Teixeira.

Bomba Borikén is a vibrant Puerto Rican folkloric group dedicated to preserving and reimagining bomba, the oldest musical genre in Puerto Rico, with roots going back over 600 years. Rooted in African, Taíno, and Spanish influences, the group honors the island’s history through dynamic dance, drum rhythms, and soul-stirring vocals and is spearheaded by vocalist Patricia “Melo Gía” Lewis Román and drummer Ileanna Santiago Ruíz.