MASS MoCA Hosts All-Female Mariachi Band [Berkshire on Stage]

Trailblazing Latin Grammy nominees Mariachi Flor de Toloache are New York City’s first all-female mariachi band. The band infuses a classic ranchero sound with bursts of hip-hop, soul, jazz and salsa and is about as much fun as it gets. Taking its name from the flower used as a love potion in Mexico, Mariachi Flor de Toloache will seduce the audience on MASS MoCA’s Dré Pavilion in North Adams at 8pm on Saturday (August 6).

Started as a trio in 2008 by Mireya Ramos, who grew up in Puerto Rico listening to her father’s mariachi records, Mariachi Flor de Toloache began busking near Times Square and in subway stations, playing gigs wherever there was a song to sing. Eight years later, the band has grown to thirteen members, wielding violins, trumpets, guitarróns (bass), and vihuelas (five-string guitars).

With “top-notch musicianship, mariachi swagger for days, and a performance style that captures all the power and emotion you’d hope for” (NPR Music), Flor de Toloache performs like a band of sisters — a whirlwind of Mexican folk music paired with a cosmopolitan edge that mesmerizes, intoxicates and eventually pulls you to the dance floor.

In addition to Saturday’s concert at MASS MoCA, Mariachi Flor de Toloache will play a free concert at Amsterdam’s Riverlink Park at 7pm on Saturday, August 20.

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