PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — More than 14% of Philadelphia’s population is Latinx, according to census data from 2018. “We realized that our audience at World Cafe Live and the artists on our stages weren’t representative of that population,” said spokesperson Tori Powers.
The venue is working to change that with their Latinx summer music series, bringing both music and education to the stage.
“Our goal with the series is to open up our doors to new communities and new artists and try to give those artists a bigger platform and make a welcoming space,” she said.
Starting Friday, World Cafe Live will host eight different concerts featuring Latinx performers. The music doesn’t stop at the doors.
“We’re debuting a brand new bilingual bridge session, and bridge sessions are our flagship music education programs,” said Powers.
The venue brings in groups of Philly kids, students and adults with disabilities for free 90-minute performances that are interactive and educational.
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“Our goal with our music education programs is really to just give kids access to music education that they may not get in schools and also to really just give them new experiences,” added Powers, “bring them to a venue where they can experience professional sound, lighting and learn from professional teaching artists and musicians.”
Powers hopes this can be a jumping-off point for Philly to better engage under-represented communities.