Codemakers: Nano Stern

Monday, October 2, 7:30 p.m.

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September 2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of one of the darkest moments in twentieth century South American history, the military coup d’état in Chile that removed popularly elected president Salvador Allende from office and ushered in seventeen years of brutal oppression under the rule of right-wing dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Even now, twenty-three years after Pinochet finally fell from power, it isn’t easy to understand all that was lost through the coup. This evening of story and song will endeavor to set at least some of the record straight.

Join us for a very special evening with the renowned Chilean singer-songwriter and political activist Stern. In addition to seeing Stern perform songs, you'll have a chance to interact with him, and you'll be part of the first U.S. audience to view We’ll Be Singing by September, the new documentary film directed and produced b Stern and Luis Emilio Briceño. The film explores the history, development and transcendence of Chilean music during the socialist government of Allende. It also examines the importance of the resistance music form Nueva Cancion through a series of interviews with some of the movement’s most prominent figures. 

Stern will help cast the film in a modern context. One of the leading Chilean songwriters and musicians of the last two decades as well as one of most important political voices in modern Chilean music, Stern will perform a short selection of songs, focusing on material from his latest album, Nano Stern Canta a Víctor Jara. The record finds Stern revisiting the work of the legendary folk singer Jara, who was tortured and murdered by the Pinochet regime. Stern will also engage in a dialogue with the audience about the film and the enduring influence of Nueva Cancion on Chilean and South American music.