Esotérica Tropical: A Sonic Ritual & Evening of Caribbean Medicine Songs

Steeped in a Caribbean sound aesthetic, Esotérica Tropical presents this very special acoustic concert here at our campus chapel for our Mills College community at Northeastern University that will blend original and Latin American traditional medicinal songs with the folk harp, creating lush and propulsive settings for a sonic journey that is a prayer to both our ancestors and our future selves. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Oakland’s Esotérica Tropical is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who knows that music is a potent force for full-spectrum healing. This beautiful sound healing experience is sponsored by Spiritual and Religious Life, Academic Events at Mills College at Northeastern, with community promotion through Casa Tia Luna.

Bio: Esotérica Tropical draws inspiration from over 20 years of experience as a healer –including tai-chi and qi-gong practice, taoist cosmology, meditation, traditional medicine practitioner and acupuncturist. Her music is rooted in a continuous process of discovery and care, where trauma is transformed into art.

A self-described “weird, cosmic, and queer islander” from Puerto Rico, Esotérica Tropical’s musical journey began as a student of classical vocal performance in Puerto Rico’s prestigious Conservatory of Music. After a series of health issues derailed her music studies, she began treatment for Hashimoto’s disease in 2009, including daily swims at San Juan’s El Escambrón beach. It was there on one serendipitous day that she was approached by the lifeguard on duty ––to her surprise, her friend Constanza, a violinist she’d met during her conservatory days. While catching up, María José confessed to her friend she had begun making up songs in the shower, and the very next day Constanza had gifted her her first harp (one she had bought on eBay, curiously enough, from Puerto Rican composer Angélica Negrón.

That chance encounter led to Esotérica Tropical’s first collection of songs, the self-released Estrellas EP (2014). Currently moving between México, Puerto Rico, and Oakland, California, Esotérica Tropical’s forthcoming album Esotérica Tropical is due out in 2024.

Registration:

This event is free thanks to funding from Academic Events of the Office of the Dean, Mills College at Northeastern University, Spiritual and Religious Life, and LatinX Heritage Month, with community promotion by Casa Tia Luna. Registration is not required but appreciated for our planning purposes. If you are moved to do so, donations to the artist will be accepted at the event, and CD's will be available for purchase.

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About our Community Promoter, Casa Tía Luna: CTL is an Indigenous ancestral healing space founded by Indigenous women in 2020 for where medicine carriers/ practitioners are invited to make their offerings available for our BIPOC communities here in the Bay Area. If you are interested in workshops or trainings for your organization or community, or if you have any questions about Casa Tia Luna, please contact us at [email protected].

Follow Casa Tia Luna on Facebook, Instagram, and Eventbrite to receive notices of all our upcoming circles and workshops in Fall 2023 and new offerings in 2024, including drum circles with our Wakan Wiya Two Spirit Drum, and a great series on Two Spirit- IndigeQueer Medicine.

Host or Publisher Casa Tía Luna