Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada will help shape the sound of the Los Angeles Philharmonic as its first creative chair for Latin music, expanding her relationship with the orchestra into a role championing Latin American artists and traditions.
The appointment, announced Wednesday, puts the 29-year-old Latin Grammy winner on an artistic leadership team preparing for music director Daniel Harding’s arrival in the 2027-28 season.
Described in 2024 as “the next Mexican global music star” by Mexico News Daily, Estrada will develop programming across Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and The Ford, an intimate amphitheater in the Hollywood Hills.
Her appointment builds on three years of collaborations with the 107-year-old orchestra. She will also collaborate with guest artists and continue working with Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, the organization’s music education program.
“Latin music is not a single sound,” Estrada said in the Philharmonic’s announcement. “To me, it is the soul of an entire continent, an immense and profound richness woven together across generations, with the power to transcend any border.”
Estrada’s piercing lyricism and deeply soulful storytelling come through in her NPR Tiny Desk concerts in 2021 and 2025. Both performances offer English subtitles, allowing viewers who do not speak Spanish to follow her lyrics.
The first was taped at her family’s instrument workshop in Coatepec, Veracruz, during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted in the Mexico News Daily article “Regional Mexican music takes over NPR’s Tiny Desk.”
Estrada grew up in the coffee town of Coatepec surrounded by instruments and musicians in her parents’ workshop.
The second was a deeply affecting four-song set in the famously cramped NPR office space, encompassing heartbreak and a defiant message of hope for women facing violence in Mexico.
NPR’s Anamaria Sayre wrote that Estrada brings audiences to tears without extinguishing hope, adding that “her voice finds a way to bend wounds to her will and become whole.”
Her 2022 album, “Marchita,” helped establish her blend of indie folk, jazz and traditional Mexican influences. She won that year’s Latin Grammy for best new artist and received a Grammy nomination for best global music performance in 2024.
Her self-produced 2025 follow-up, “Vendrán Suaves Lluvias,” brought her six 2026 Latin Grammy nominations, including album of the year. The song “Dime” — described by KUTX in Austin, Texas, as “a deceptively lovely song about post-breakup wild rage” — is up for record and song of the year.
The 27th Latin Grammys will be held Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with Estrada scheduled to perform and Puerto Rican actress Roselyn Sánchez hosting for the 10th time.
“Vendrán Suaves Lluvias” emerged from profound loss. Estrada told NPR that her best friend and his younger brother were murdered in Mexico City in 2022, leaving her to navigate grief while touring internationally.
The Philharmonic also named British composer and conductor Thomas Adès its creative chair for new music, succeeding John Adams, and Bronx-born jazz vocalist Samara Joy its creative chair for jazz, succeeding Herbie Hancock.
With reports from EFE and NPR
