Gina Chavez (she/they) is a Latin Grammy nominee, internationally acclaimed recording artist, wife and philanthropist. Born in Austin, they are a 13-time Austin Music Award winner and proud Vice President of the Texas Chapter of the Recording Academy. Gina’s first all-Spanish language album, La Que Manda, was nominated for a 2020 Latin Grammy in Best Pop/Rock, making them the third Latine born in the continental U.S. to ever be nominated in history of the category (and the first queer Texan).
Their NPR Tiny Desk concert has more than 1.3 million views and they are featured on Brené Brown’s hit podcast, Unlocking Us, for which they co-wrote the theme music. Gina tours internationally as a cultural ambassador with the U.S. State Department and runs Niñas Arriba, a college fund Gina and their wife founded for young women in gang-dominated El Salvador. Gina’s new song, “Woman in the Arena” and their official TED Talk are out now.
“Steeped in slow-burn soul and uptempo R&B,” Gina’s newest EP, Lightbeam already has NPR under the spell and of a new sound that expands upon her passionate collection of bilingual songs that traverse cumbia, indie-folk, blues and Latin pop.
“Chavez’s voice is perfectly suited to reflect all of those experiences and to take us to places where we dare to let our emotional guards down.” (NPR/Felix Contreras)
“Most striking is Chavez’s ease as she moves between social and love songs, between North American and Latin genres, and even between languages: When she passes mid-song from English to Spanish and back, it’s the most natural thing in the world.“ -The Boston Globe
“Gina Chavez and her band were outstanding to work with! They welcomed the students as they came in, worked to learn as many students’ names as possible and really used those names during their engaging workshops! It was a great experience for the students to practice not only their audience member skills, but also their performer skills as the band worked with them on creating a song by focusing on the smaller parts followed by putting them altogether to make a complete song. I would LOVE to have them back in my classroom and would highly recommend them as guests in any performing arts classrooms!” –Courtney Copic, 6th-8th Grade Choir Instructor, Merrill Middle School, Des Moines
