Voices and Songs in Puerto Rican Bomba

As part of our project "The Banyan Tree of the Americas: Music Evolution in the African Diaspora" we are hosting this educational experience for our community. Learn about Puerto Rican bomba singing, songs, and history from one of our bomba masters and elders, Nelie Lebrón Robles. Voices and Song in Puerto Rican Bomba is an interactive historical journey through the role of female voices in bomba music. Participants will be able to hear the voices of ancestral women, know their stories and sing some of the bomba songs that have empowered female singers to have a "voice" in a traditionally male dominated genre. Maraca is suggested. Limited spaces available. Sunday, August 29th, 2021 1pm to 2pm ET DanceFXBG 902 Caroline St. Fredericksburg, VA We will follow the CDC and Virginia Department of Health guidelines for indoor events. Be ready to wear a mask. "Nelie Lebrón Robles is a Puerto Rican singer, bassist and music educator at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. Since 1981, she is the lead singer of the Bomba and Plena ensemble, Paracumbé, directed by Puerto Rican ethnomusicologist Emanuel Dufrasne González. Prof. Lebrón is a graduate from the University of Puerto Rico, where she completed her Master of Arts in Education. She taught in the Puerto Rico Public School System for 17 years, where in 1994 she was bestowed the National Teacher of the Year Award. During that year, she represented Puerto Rico in a number of national and international education events. As the lead singer of Paracumbé, Nelie is responsible of the ensemble´s vocal arrangements. With Paracumbé she has traveled to North and South America, The Caribbean and Europe. She was the first singer to perform bomba in the prestigious Casals Festival with the Brass Section of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with the New York Symphony, where she sang the piece Bomba Sinfónica by renowed Puerto Rican Composer William Cepeda. Nelie has also collaborated with international artists R