GREAT BARRINGTON — The distance between Bogotá and Great Barrington is a whopping 4,166 kilometers or roughly 2,588 miles. Units of measurement aside, Colombian singer-songwriter Diana Burco will bridge the divide when she performs live on the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center stage Sunday, March 13 at 4 p.m. as part of an extended visit to the Berkshires that includes two educational programs and a free community event at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield.
“I’m super excited and super blessed with being able to bring our Colombian music and culture, and of course my accordion, into these towns,” said Burco, a charismatic rising star of the explosive and multi-dimensional Colombian music scene. The two-time Latin Grammy nominee, who is also an accomplished accordion player, looks forward to a “powerful and beautiful experience” while in our region next week.
“Music is such a beautiful way to connect and feel the other’s culture,” Burco told The Edge. “[Together], we are all going to be able to play the rhythms from Colombia [and] see how near we actually are [to one another], even though we sometimes feel that we are super different.”
This multi-day program, coordinated by the Mahaiwe’s Spanish-language Community Advisory Network (SCAN) committee, which includes representatives from both the Mahaiwe and Volunteers in Medicine (VIM), is funded in part by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. Burco’s Mahawie residency is supported by centerstageus.org, a cultural diplomacy program of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts.
“Following the success of our Spanish-language movie screenings last year, we are excited to offer live programming under the same coordination efforts from the Mahaiwe’s Spanish-language Community Advisory Network committee,” said Mahaiwe Executive Director Janis Martinson. “Building onto that bridge with the Berkshires’ Spanish-speaking community while appealing to the Mahaiwe’s audience at-large is a prospect we believe Diana Burco’s music will meet.”
Burco, whose self-titled debut LP was nominated in 2018 as Best Album Vallenato/Cumbia, is the first ever female nominee for what is considered the most important indigenous music of Colombia. On Monday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m., Tertulia Musical with Diana Burco will see the artist joining local musicians for a free community event that includes a live performance and a discussion, at Berkshire Community College’s Robert Boland Theatre. The event will be moderated by NÓMADAS Radio of WTBR 89.7 FM.
Burco believes music has an important role to play in uniting individuals across the ever divided world in which we live. “Music is the best way to do it,” she said. “I believe that it’s kind of the universal language, and it’s a lot of feeling, right? And I think that’s true: the way we are actually going to find peace in the world is through music. I believe that.”
NOTE: All tickets must be purchased in advance online or by calling 413-528-0100 during box office hours, Wednesdays–Saturdays from 12–4 p.m. Proof of vaccination (or recent COVID test) and ID are required for admission, and masks are to be worn at all times in the theater.
