LA Phil to Present Screening of EL CANTO DE LAS MANOS

The Los Angeles Philharmonic will present a West coast premiere screening of the documentary film El Canto de las Manos.

El Canto de las Manos is a documentary about the power of music to serve as a place of unity and expression. It centers on the 2022 production of Beethoven’s opera Fidelio, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel — the LA Phil’s Music & Artistic Director, and husband of Valverde — and featuring the Coro de Manos Blancas — an ensemble comprising deaf and hard of hearing performers, as well as performers with visual and cognitive impairments, from Venezuela — and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The innovative, semi-staged production, created for both deaf and hearing audiences by Dudamel and Valverde through the Dudamel Foundation, featured both Venezuelan Sign Language (LSV) by deaf actors and singing by hearing vocalists.

El Canto de las Manos is a production of Quinchoncho and Forty Entertainment, made in association with The deNovo Initiative and The Breathe Project, with the support of the Hilti Foundation, the Riegler & Deutsch Foundation and Porticus and the Community Arts Network (CAN).

Valverde says, "Music is not only the inspiration and driving force in the lives of these brilliant deaf artists, but also their refuge and salvation. This is a story of justice — of how art transcends the visible and transforms its protagonists into guides who illuminate a new way of experiencing music, one that comes from a deeper level of awareness; a declaration of freedom and dignity."