GRAMMY-winning band will make final stop at the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in Bethlehem on Saturday, August 26

Bethlehem, PA March 28, 2023 – Mark your calendars for a night of phenomenal live music as the Grammy-winning band La Santa Cecilia, selected as this year’s headliner of the 2023 Levitt National Tour, will perform at the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks on Saturday, August 26 at 7:30 p.m.

The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, a social impact funder supporting nonprofits nationwide at the intersection of music, public space and community building, today announced the return of its annual, free Levitt National Tour this spring and summer. Continuing the Foundation’s mission of building community through music, La Santa Cecilia will headline the seventh iteration of the Levitt National Tour, which began in 2014 with the world-music fusion of Playing For Change.

La Santa Cecilia is scheduled to visit six Levitt venues with the tour kicking off in Arlington, Texas, on Friday, May 12, and continuing to Denver (Saturday, May 13); Dayton, Ohio (Friday, June 23); Sioux Falls, S.D. (Saturday, June 24); Los Angeles (Saturday, July 22); and concluding in Bethlehem, Pa. (Saturday, August 26).

“We are excited to host this phenomenal band here at the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks,” said Shayna Super, Executive Director of Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks & Programming Manager. “The Levitt Foundation, through its mission, demonstrates a unique opportunity to make a collaborative and positive impact on local communities and we are grateful to be a part of it.”

Hailing from Los Angeles, La Santa Cecilia combines elements of cumbia, rock, bolero, bossa nova, jazz, tango and ranchera into an electrifying and unmistakable signature style.  Named after the patron saint of music, La Santa Cecilia is comprised of singer Marisol “La Marisoul” Hernandez, accordionist and requinto player Jose “Pepe” Carlos, bassist Alex Bendaña, and percussionist Miguel “Oso” Ramirez. Formed 15 years ago, the group quickly began captivating audiences around the world with a soulful, high-energy blend of both Latin and American musical traditions, reflecting its members’ bilingual, multicultural identities. La Santa Cecilia’s songs about love, loss and everyday struggles have sparked collaborations with everyone from Los Lobos and Pepe Aguilar to Elvis Costello and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, as well as invitations to record songs for films such as Cantinflas, The Book of Life, and Pixar’s Oscar-winning Coco.

All Levitt National Tour performances with La Santa Cecilia are free and open to the public, providing welcoming, inclusive experiences for all ages to enjoy. Bassist Alex Bendaña notes, “The energy you get at Levitt venues is so good, it always feels like a festival. It’s a beautiful open space where everyone can express themselves and just feel free. For us, it’s always cool that we get to see diverse communities at Levitt venues, with people from all different cultures and all different parts of the neighborhood. Our music is very inviting to that sort of atmosphere.”

 

Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks is part of a national network of outdoor Levitt music venues and Levitt AMP concert sites dedicated to strengthening the social fabric of communities in America through free, live music in public spaces. Presenting high-caliber talent and a broad array of music genres and cultural programming, Levitt venues are welcoming, inclusive destinations where families, friends and neighbors of all ages and backgrounds come together. Levitt venues are managed, programmed and supported by Friends of Levitt nonprofit partners, and the Levitt AMP Music series is presented by a range of nonprofit organizations. In 2023, the Levitt network is presenting 650+ free concerts in more than 40 towns and cities across the country, with audiences over 750,000. For more information, visit www.levitt.org

 

About the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation
The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation is a private family foundation that exists to strengthen the social fabric of America. Through its commitment to creative placemaking, the Levitt Foundation supports the activation of underused public spaces—such as neglected parks, vacant downtown lots, and former brownfields—into welcoming, inclusive destinations where the power of free, live music brings people together to create more equitable, healthy, and thriving communities. The Foundation’s primary funding areas include Levitt venues and the Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards. Both of these programs present free concerts in outdoor, open lawn settings featuring high-caliber talent in a broad array of music genres and cultural performances. Levitt venues and Levitt AMP concert sites attract people of all ages and backgrounds and reflect the character of their town or city, while benefitting from the framework and best practices of the Levitt program.

The Levitt Foundation invests in community-driven efforts that harness the power of partnerships and leverage community engagement. Levitt venue nonprofits and AMP grantees partner with other local nonprofits and community groups to inform programming, outreach and engagement, embodying the Foundation’s funding philosophy and core values to support projects that are inclusive, catalytic and dynamic, and create connectedness and joy. Reflecting its ongoing commitment to self-reflection and contributing to the creative placemaking field, the Levitt Foundation invests in research to evaluate the social impact of Levitt programs in communities, which in turn informs the Foundation’s evolving philanthropic practice. Learn more at levitt.org.

 

Information provided to TVL by:
Jennifer LoConte
Communication Director
ArtsQuest
http://www.artsquest.org/

 

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