MAGOS HERRERA

GRAMMY NOMINATED | CMA New Jazz Works Award

““One of the great modern singers of our time.” — Latin Jazz Network

“Herrera gets way under the skin of the song, recalling great communicators like Edith Piaf or Billie Holiday.” —NPR

“She's stretching the very notion of jazz singing, pushing past the diva pleasantries into a sound that's bold, thrilling and effortlessly global.” — NPR

INSTAGRAM

YOUTUBE

FACEBOOK

TOURING CONFIGURATIONS

QUINTET - FORTUNATE ISLANDS
Quartet w/Orchestra (see symphony page)

PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

In a quintet setting and inspired by Portuguese Fernando Pessoa’s poem “Ilhas afortunadas” (Fortunate islands) singer and composer Magos Herrera embarks a new repertoire of originals and Brazilian classics honoring the influence that Brazilian music have had in her development as a musician. The poem's imagery of the Fortunate Islands, a mythical land of eternal youth and happiness, explores the enigmatic nature of hope and the fleeting beauty of dreams. The speaker hears a voice in the sound of the waves, a voice that speaks of hope and distant lands of eternal youth and happiness. It is a voice that requires us to be receptive and open to its message, a message that is easily lost when we awaken to the realities of the world. this poem focuses on a singular moment of introspection and the exploration of a universal human emotion. It also reflects the modernist themes of disillusionment and the search for meaning in a changing world. In a landscape that redefines an outer and inner order, this project is an invitation to listen, to stay awake, to pay attention to our deepest longings , to engage with our shared humanity.
FORTUNATE ISLANDS
translated from Portuguese

What voice comes in the sound of the waves? That is not the voice of the sea? It is the voice of someone who speaks to us, But if we listen, it remains silenced
And only if, half asleep, not knowing how to hear what we hear, she tells us about hope And we hear like a child asleep, sleeping we smile.
They are the fortunate islands, they are the lands without a place, where a King lives waiting, but if we wake up, Stay silenced for there is only the sea.

🔗 Download Fortunate Islands One Sheet (PDF)

Born in Mexico City and currently based out of New York City, Magos Herrera is a dazzling jazz singer-songwriter, producer, and educator declared as "One of the greatest contemporary interpreters of song” by The Latin Jazz Network. With a sultry voice and an unparalleled presence in the contemporary Latin American jazz scene, she is best known for her eloquent vocal improvisation and her singular bold style, which embraces elements of contemporary jazz with Ibero-American melodies and rhythms in a style that elegantly blends and surpasses language boundaries.
“She gets way under the skin of the song, recalling great communicators like Edith Piaf or Billie Holiday” is how NPR describes Herrera’s talents who has recorded 9 albums including joint collaborations with producer Javier Limón in addition to having participated as a guest artist of several recordings and albums. An accomplished artist, Magos has performed in leading international cultural venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in NYC, Kennedy Center in DC, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Union Chapel in London, Palau de la Musica in Valencia, and has been part of the line-up of some of the most memorable jazz festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival, to mention a few. Included as one of the most creative Mexicans in the world by Forbes Magazine, throughout her career, Magos has garnered important awards and recognitions, including a Grammy short-list nomination in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category for her album Distancia (2009), and received the Berklee College of Music’s Master of Latin Music Award.
In 2018 Magos released her album Dreamers (Sony Music) in collaboration Brooklyn Rider. ”Dreamers is not only a work of art, setting musicians of the highest order to accomplished music with purpose, but it is a work of love as well” wrote Sounds and colors on this highly acclaimed album that rapidly got into the Top lists of The New York Times, Billboard classical, NPR Music, among others and was nominated for the Grammy for Best arrangement with the song “Niña”.
Created and recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic and in collaboration with composer Paola Prestini, in December 2020 Herrera released her tenth album “Con Alma” (National Sawdust Tracks), exploring the question of how we can find communion a in a time of isolation. With more that 30 musicians around the globe including Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, Jeff Zeigler, Kinan Azmeh, Romero Lubambo, Gonzalo Grau, Vinicius Gomes, Diego Schissi, Ensemble Sjaella, Constelation Choir and The Young People’s Chorus of New York City this artifact of our time was presented as a virtual digital experience on Dec 2020.
She is as a spokesperson for UN Women for UNITE to end violence against women campaign and He For She, as a promoter of gender equality, is a 2020 recipient of Chamber Music Americas New Jazz Works Award, 2021 South Arts Jazz Roads Creative Residencies and Cafe Royal Foundation grants recipient and currently she serves as a Cultural Diplomatic Advisor for the Mexican Government and is part of New York Mannes Conservatory faculty.