The Seaside Music Festival Presents
OKAN & Pablo Cardenas
Saturday, June 8 at 7:30pm

Fusing Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk and global rhythms in songs about immigration, resistance and love, OKAN takes their name from the word for heart in their Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria. With vocals in Spanish, English and Spanglish, OKAN is led by the Cuban-born violinist and vocalist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist and vocalist Magdelys Savigne, both Grammy and Latin-Grammy nominees.

Having recently worked with Bomba Estereo, Lido Pimienta, and Dayme Arocena, OKAN’s Juno-winning sophomore release Espiral debuted in first place on Canada’s !Earshot charts and was included in NPR's top 10 Alt Latino and CBC Music's top 20 of that year.

Passionate advocates for freedom of expression, queer rights and gender equality, OKAN has gained a reputation for their powerful live performances, which showcase their incredible harmonies, virtuosic musicianship, potent lyrics as well as an unfailing ability to connect with audiences on a deep emotional level.

Embracing genres that have not historically fostered women artists outside of the role of singer, OKAN co-leaders have faced many challenges. Magdelys talks about the obstacles she faced in pursuing percussion in her native Cuba and how “coming out as a percussionist” to her family. was as big a deal as coming out as queer. Part of the next wave of Cuban women composers and multi-instrumentalists, Elizabeth and Magdelys bring a fresh perspective to Latin and world jazz fusion through their powerful harmonies, elevated musicianship and provocative but playful lyrical content.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Elizabeth Rodriguez is a classically trained violinist who served as concertmaster for Havana’s Youth Orchestra. Magdelys Savigne hails from Santiago de Cuba and graduated with honors in orchestral percussion from Havana’s University of the Arts. 

Called "lush and vibrant, urgent but specific and deeply intentional" by CBC Music, OKAN’s second album Espiral delved deeper into the group's rich Cuban roots, finding renewed inspiration in this powerful musical heritage. The Santeria influences are most evident in the title track, which uniquely blends guajira, the folk genre of Eastern Cuba, with Santeria-derived chants.

A new album, Okantomi, to be released in the fall of 2023, includes special guests as classical violinist Lara St. John, leading figures in Cuban jazz, Dayme Arocena and Elmer Ferrer as well as the legendary Afro-Cuban percussionist Amado Dedeu.

Pablo Cardenas is a pianist, composer and music teacher with the ability to play in a multitude of styles each with enthusiasm, skill and finesse. He was also a huge hit at our 2023 festival and we are thrilled to have him back on this all Afro-Cuban bill. Pablo has a charisma and charm that both intrigues and entertains his audience, also has over 15 years of experience teaching and performing internationally. While being one of the best Cuban pianists of his generation, his versatility and high technical preparation make his music very rich and full of different influences from Afro-Cuban, Latin jazz, to Fusion, Modern Jazz, Classical and more.