Ivy Queen & Carnegie Hall Execs Talk Nuestros Sonidos: 'It's a Moment for Us to Celebrate the Latin Songbook'

Nuestros Sonidos, Carnegie Hall's ambitious season-long celebration of Latin music and culture, got off to a spectacular start on October 8 under the direction of virtuoso Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel — Bulletin boardthis month's cover star — and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Kicking off during Hispanic Heritage Month, the festival boasts an impressive lineup, with talents such as Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade, Cuban funk artist Cimafunk, Colombian indie pop band Monsieur Perine, salsa legends Grupo Niche and Chilean jazz musician Añoñoaaudia.

One of the most anticipated highlights of the festival is the Carnegie Hall debut of Ivy Queen, the formidable reggaetón superstar known for her staunch support of female empowerment in the male-dominated genre. “Being on this stage allows me to celebrate not only reggaetón but the essence of what it means to be Latino, our roots and our global musical influence,” Ivy Queen tells Billboard Español. “It's an honor to be a part of this representation and continue to take our music to every corner of the globe.”

Carnegie Hall executive and artistic director Clive Gillinson and Adriaan Fuchs, director of festivals and special projects, state that Nuestros Sonidos aims to shine a light on the Latin music that has profoundly influenced both American culture and the world at large.

“Latin music was something that had such a huge effect [not just] about American culture, but about culture around the world,” notes Gillinson. “It was something very important to do. We look at who the biggest experts are in the field to make sure all the ideas we consider and explore come from people who are leaders in thought, knowledge, experience and background.”

Fuchs adds, “We work with curatorial boards and consultants who help put these festivals together. They include Latin music specialists, ethnomusicologists, cultural and social experts on how the culture has developed in the Americas. Coupled with these, we decided that we wanted to cover a range of different genres that you would expect, such as salsa, reggaetón, latin jazz, classical music, etc. We really wanted to focus on those genres that have played a defining role in the American cultural landscape and particularly in America.”

As Nuestros Sonidos unfolds throughout the season, it promises a variety of Latin musical styles and expressions, inviting audiences to explore the powerful narratives that have shaped the past, present and future of Latin music.

Read our Q&As with Clive Gillinson and Adriaan Fuchs of Ivy Queen and Carnegie Hall below:

What inspired Carnegie Hall to launch Nuestros Sonidos and what do you hope to achieve with this initiative?

Clive Gillinson: We try to see things that are important topics and areas of culture. Last season, we looked at Fall of the Weimar Republic: The Fragility of Democracy, because we thought this is a very important issue in the world today. Last year, we looked at Women in Music, and before that, Afrofuturism. [In 2021]we looked [Voices of Hope] Artists in times of oppression. artists who wrote despite the most horrific circumstances – be it the Holocaust, slavery, the Soviet Union and so on. They still wrote things about hope and aspiration.

Latin music was something that had such a huge effect [not just] for American culture, but for culture around the world. 11 years ago, we did Voices from Latin America, which specifically looked at the music of three Latin American countries. The emphasis was on looking at the influences of Latin music on American culture in particular. We felt like it was a really important thing to do, something that maybe hasn't been looked at enough in terms of how people look at culture in America.

Ivy, as a reggaetón pioneer and advocate for female empowerment in the music industry, what does it mean to you personally and professionally to make your Carnegie Hall debut with the Nuestros Sonidos series?

Ivy Queen: For me, debuting in such an iconic venue as Carnegie Hall represents both personal and professional validation of the path I've taken in my career. I have fought to open doors for women in a genre that has historically been dominated by men. Being on this stage not only represents the recognition of my many years of work and effort, but also proves that reggaetón, a music born from the streets, has a legitimate place in the most famous venues of the world. It is an achievement that celebrates the resilience, strength and talent of all the women who participated in this movement.

How does Nuestros Sonidos plan to impact the local New York community and the wider Latin music scene?

Gillinson: We want this to be meaningful to devotees, supporters and people from Latin music backgrounds so they feel represented. They feel that their culture is at the center. To make sure that all of these areas of music also reach people that maybe weren't their background, and where they trust Carnegie Hall as a curator to take them on a journey of exploration.

Fuchs: New York had such a huge role to play in Latin music flourishing in this country throughout the decade. We wanted to make sure we had programming that addressed all of that. By putting together the concerts at the Hall, we were very aware of the Latino communities that exist in New York: the Puerto Rican community, the Colombian community, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Cuba, etc. We made sure to have artists representing these different cultures, music genres and styles as part of the festival.