Canada’s musicians join the IICA campaign to salute food chain workers

San Jose, 18 June 2020 (IICA). Canadian jazz trumpeter, composer, and singer, Mike Field, and Julio Filici, a Canadian singer-songwriter born in Argentina, have come on board the campaign of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). The initiative pays tribute to farmers and food chain workers whose daily efforts are ensuring the production, transportation, marketing and supply of food during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Field has performed in his native Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, as well as in Korea, Chile and Antarctica. He has earned several accolades throughout his career, including the Independent Music Award for his work as a Jazz Producer (The Ghost and the Paperboy, 2018) and the recognition of Best Jazz Vocalist in the Toronto Independent Music Awards (Magnolia, 2017).

His songs are influenced by the places where he has travelled or that are part of his daily experiences. One example is the song he performed for the tribute – Out of the World, which was recorded in New Zealand, where the pandemic caught him by surprise. Field does the introduction in Spanish but sings the song in English.

Julio Filici, on the other hand, is a socially conscious musician and a much-loved member of Toronto’s creative community, as well as of the various immigrant communities in that city. In this popular music tribute, his song is called “Make a Living”.

IICA’s campaign has brought together renowned artists from different countries in the hemisphere, who are selflessly participating in the POPULAR MUSIC TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO WORK DAY TO DAY TO PUT FOOD ON OUR TABLES.

Gustavo Santaolalla, João Bosco, Gilberto Gil, León Gieco, Carlinhos Brown, Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy, Mart'nália, Maria Luiza Jobim, Teresa Parodi, Soledad Villamil, Víctor Heredia, Hilda Lizarazu, Paulo Miklos, Lidia Borda, La Charo (Tonolec), Willy Piancioli (Los Tipitos), Agustín Ronconi (Arbolito), Alejandro Davio (Mundo Alas), Anabella Zoch, Peteco Carabajal, Dolores Solá, Acho Estol (La Chicana), Guadalupe Urbina, Lila Downs, Los Folkloristas, Nano Stern, Ana Prada & Pata Kramer, Adrián Goizueta and Larbanois & Carrero are just some of the performers who have selflessly and generously joined the IICA campaign.

Mike Field’s performance can be watched here:

This is Julio Filici’s song:

Several organizations in different countries have taken part in the IICA tribute. In Argentina, it has received the backing of the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries; the Ministry of Culture of the Nation; the Ministry of Social Development; the anti-hunger program – Plan Argentina contra el Hambre; the Secretariat of Media and Public Communication; the public broadcast entity, Contenidos Públicos Sociedad del Estado and the arts foundation, Fondo Nacional de las Artes.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, UNESCO Brazil and the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (ABRAS) have both endorsed and become a part of this campaign.

The concert by the Argentinian performers in this campaign can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT1CxNALDus.  The songs contributed by the rest of the artists are also available on IICA’s Youtube channel.

IICA will continue to publish the contributions of the artists in the campaign on all its digital platforms and on those of its partners in this initiative, using the following hashtags on social media:

#GRACIAS

#HEROESYHEROINAS

#PORLOSALIMENTOSENNUESTRAMESA

#OBRIGADO #OBRIGADA

#HERÓISEHEROÍNAS

#PORALIMENTOSEMNOSSAMESA 

#THANKS

#HEROESANDHEROINES

#FORFOODONOURTABLES

More information:  

Institutional Communication Division, IICA.

comunicacion.institucional@iica.int