LADAMA is a music ensemble comprised of five musicians from across the Americas who strive to engage youth and other women in their respective communities in the process of music-making, sound design, composition and audio production. We aim to address gender inequality and unequal representation of women in all aspects of music education, industry and business. Through workshops and public performance we encourage all to express their humanity by building community through music.
As musicians we collaborate to create original compositions, bringing together the disparate elements of a traditional band while writing non-traditional music. As educators and facilitators we draw from the specific cultural contexts of the communities that we hope to serve in order to provide a foundation for participants to use music as a basic form of personal expression to address issues pertinent to them.
 
In the fall of 2014, members of LADAMA met at OneBeat (http://1beat.org/) — an initiative of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and curated by Found Sound Nation (http://foundsoundnation.org) — for musicians from around the world to come together to focus on social engagement, sound production and composition in a collaboration-based setting. Initially conceived by Lara Klaus, Daniela Serna and Maria Gonzalez (La-Da-Ma) with the aim of working within countries in South America, LADAMA grew to include Sara Lucas in an effort to reach communities in North America as well. Out of this experience our project developed as a way to continue together as an active music ensemble that creates original work and socially engages communities on a global level.
 
Members: MARIA FERNANDA GONZALEZ, LARA KLAUS, DANIELA SERNA, SARA LUCAS
 
Ladama official site