La Otra Otra Campaña: Gizelxanath and Ben Barson on Tour in Mexico
June 13, 2015
For Immediate Release!
La Otra Otra Campaña:
Continuing the Conversation between Resistance and Renaissance.
Gizelxanath and Ben Barson on tour in Mexico June 12th-June 19th
Activists and award-winning musical duo Gizelxanath and Benjamin Barson will be performing their signature music of Jazz Indigenous fusion throughout various communities in Southeastern Mexico from June 13-18th. The trip commemorates the resistance movements of the first people throughout the Americas against the cultural and ecological destructivity of neoliberal capitalism. Their first performance will be in Papantla, Veracruz followed by a concert with the Zapatista community of Oventic, Chiapas, and finally will be participants at the “Epistemologies of the South” conference hosted by the Caribbean Philosophical Association.
Barson and Gizelxanath are organizers with Ecosocialist Horizons, and moved to Pittsburgh following the MOSAIC convergence, to deepen and innovate the ecosocialist tendency in radical and self-sufficiency movements in Western Pennsylvania.
Gizelxanath, born in Mexicali, Mexico and of Yaqui descent, has worked for years as an opera singer in the United States and Europe. Her partner Benjamin Barson is an accomplished jazz saxophonist and composer who has collaborated with visionary artists such as Fred Ho, Robert Kocik, and Magdalena Gomez to advance the causes of national liberation movements and ecological justice.
Performances:
June 13th, 3pm: Centro Cultural Teodoro CANO Veracruz, Mexico
June 16th, 10pm: Oventic, Autonomous Territory of Zapatistas, Chiapas, Mexico
June 18th, 7:30pm: Technologies of Liberation Conference, hosted by the Caribbean Philosophical Association, Riviera Maya, Mexico
Press:
“[Gizelxanath] is a beautiful soprano with a mesmerizing stage presence and a genuine mastery of verismo style.” JOHN BILLS, Opera magazine
“Ben Barson…. has the heft and sound to represent his assertive approach.” ALLAN KOZINN, The New York Times
“Not only was the[ir] music inspiring, with tight harmonies, wild solos, and a sense of humor, so too were the people onstage who carry forward a message of social justice and the power of community.” CHLOE POWELL, The Vermont Standard
Contact: Ben Barson at benjaminbarson@gmail.com
