Mariachi Divas and Susie Hansen Latin Band to play Concerts at the Square

In honor of Cinco de Mayo the museum is happy to announce the first two confirmed performers for the Concerts at the Square series in July.

On July 16th, Mariachi Divas will be the headline act. Founded and directed by trumpet player Cindy Shea in 1999, the all-female Mariachi Divas are making big waves on the national music scene. In 2009, the group won the American Grammy award for Regional Mexican Album for their latest CD, Canciones De Amor. Mariachi Divas are a unique, multi-cultural ensemble imbued with the true flavor of Los Angeles and have been represented by women of Mexican, Cuban, Samoan, Argentinian, Colombian, Panamanian, Puerto Rican, Swiss, Japanese, Honduran, Peruvian, Tongan and Anglo descents. Cindy Shea states, "Music is a way of uniting our cultural backgrounds."

Mariachi Divas have appeared at Southern California venues such as the Arrowhead Pond, Universal Amphitheater, Staples Center, the Greek Theatre, the Santa Barbara Bowl, the House of Blues, the LA Forum for the 2005 Premio La Gente live TV awards show and the Shrine Auditorium for the 2006 Alma Awards. They have also accompanied Grammy- winning artists such as Joan Sebastian, Jenny Rivera, Marco Antonio Solis, Pablo Montero, Graciela Beltran and Paulina Rubio and Mariachi Vargas.

Not to be outdone, on July 30th, the ever-popular Susie-Hansen Latin Band returns to us for what promises to be an unforgettable performance. Electric violinist Susie Hansen plays fiery Latin Jazz and Salsa, creating music that brings audiences to their feet, dancing in the aisles. Susie and her Los Angeles-based band have been acclaimed by many critics, such as Phil Elwood from the San Francisco Examiner who describes them this way: "It's a sizzling, swinging Salsa band. Hansen can solo as if her bow was afire. The whole room was jumpin' for joy."Mark Holston wrote in JAZZIZ Magazine that Susie Hansen’s “violin speaks the language of Latin Jazz with total fluency." A long-time favorite in Los Angeles, Susie and her band play 175-200 live performances per year, including such events as the Playboy Jazz Festival, Fiesta Broadway, San Jose Jazz Festival, LA Salsa Festival and Newport Beach Jazz Festival. She has toured nationally with her band, and has appeared with such big names as Tito Puente.

For more information on Mariachi Divas, please visit http://www.mariachidivas.com/. For more information on Susie Hansen, go to http://www.susiehansen.com/.

Now in its second year, Concerts at the Square bring together history, architecture, food and entertainment for free evenings of great performances. Concerts will be on four consecutive Thursday evenings in July. Please look for more information to come.