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March 18, 2010
Lensic Presents The 10th Annual Nuestra Música Celebración de los Viejitos, April 17, 7PM

Lensic Presents
With the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
THE 10th ANNUAL
Nuestra Música
Celebración de los Viejitos

10 Years of Celebrating New Mexico’s Musical Heritage

April 17, 7 p.m. at The Lensic

Santa Fe, New Mexico – The Lensic Performing Arts Center, with the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, is proud to present the 10th annual Nuestra Música celebration of the traditional and diverse musical heritage of New Mexico. In honor of the 10th anniversary of the event, this year’s presentation is a “Celebración de los Viejitos.” The featured members of the five groups are “viejitos,” old-timers who still remember the old ways, and who perform to the heartbeat of New Mexico Hispano culture.

The five featured acts are established groups from many of the state’s regions, particularly Roberto Martinez of Los Reyes de Alburquerque*, one of New Mexico’s most beloved musical groups. Los Reyes are nationally known for mariachi performances and are also well-versed in traditional Hispano folk music. Roberto Martinez, who is 80, is a founding member, and is one of the state’s foremost composers of narrative ballads known as corridos. His sons, Lorenzo and Rob, who will be featured in Nuestra Música, have long been recognized as among the finest folk musicians. [*Note the spelling of Alburquerque, the original spelling that literally got lost in translation sometime during the 19th century.]

“It’s going to be very poignant,” said Jack Loeffler, who has worked with many of the featured musicians for decades and curates the event with Enrique Lamadrid each year. “Roberto has the heart the size of a barn, and he’s been a friend for 35 years.”

A peer of Roberto Martinez, Frank Chavez of Los Garrapatas, hails from Torreon on the east side of the Manzano Mountains, south and east of Albuquerque. Frank is an accomplished violinista who performs in many different styles. Los Garrapatas perform ranchero music as well as the traditional Hispano folksongs.

Also in the lineup is Frank McCulloch y sus amigos. Frank McCulloch is a well-known New Mexican artist who has performed regional folksongs since childhood. He has lived in Las Vegas, Gallup, Taos and Albuquerque. For the last ten years, he has performed weekly at Java Joe’s in Albuquerque, singing favorite New Mexican and Mexican tunes.

Two other beloved musical groups who are veterans of Nuestra Música also return to the stage, Cipriano Vigil y La Familia Vigil and Trio Jalapeño featuring Antonia Apodaca on guitar and accordion.

Trio Jalapeño features Antonia, radio personality Ray Casias, and woodcarver Bernardo Jaramillo. Antonia Apodaca was born into a family of musicians in Rociada, New Mexico and is a lifelong musician. She sings and plays both the guitar and accordion.

Cipriano Vigil, of La Familia Vigil, is one of the greatest folk musicians to emerge from New Mexico. Cipriano was born in Chamisal and first began to learn traditional music by listening to older musicians who performed for dances, weddings and fiestas in nearby communities. Cipriano has performed throughout the United States and plays more than fifty instruments. He is joined by his son, Cipriano, Jr. and his daughter, Felicita.

Cipriano Vigil, Antonia Apodaca, Roberto Martinez and Lorenzo Martinez have all been recognized as masters by the Smithsonian Institution.

Aural historian and musicologist Jack Loeffler and Enrique Lamadrid, the director of Chicano Hispano Mexicano Studies at the University of New Mexico, are co-curators of the event.

Jack Loeffler, co-curator of Nuestra Música, is an aural historian, writer, radio producer and sound collage artist, and is the project director for the Lore of the Land, Inc. His current radio series, “The Lore of the Land,” is presently being broadcast throughout the Southwest. His two most recent books include Survival Along the Continental Divide: An Anthology of Interviews (University of New Mexico Press), and Healing the West: Voices of Culture and Habitat (Museum of New Mexico Press), both published in 2008. He is the recipient of a 2008 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Enrique Lamadrid, co-curator of Nuestra Música, is Director of Chicano-Hispano-Mexicano Studies at the University of New Mexico. A nationally recognized folklorist and musicologist, Dr. Lamadrid is the author of the award-winning book, Hermanitos Comanchitos published by UNM Press. He is also a contributing essayist in the celebrated Museum of New Mexico Press book of photographs by Miguel Gandert, Nuevo Mexico Profundo. ?

Event Details:
The Lensic, with the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art presents the 10th Annual Nuestra Música, April 17 at 7 p.m. at The Lensic.

Ticket Info: $10; Seniors free. Tickets are available through the Tickets Santa Fe box office at The Lensic at 211 W. San Francisco St. Tickets can be charged by phone by calling Tickets Santa Fe at The Lensic at 505.988.1234 or purchased online at www.TicketsSantaFe.org.

Press Information: Please contact Emily Crawford, Director of PR & Marketing, to arrange for interviews and photos at 505-988-7050 ext. 211.

About The Lensic Artistic Presentations
Since 2001, the nonprofit Lensic Performing Arts Center has presented and produced artistic performances. The Lensic’s year-round programming is integral to fulfilling the organizational mission to present local, national and international artists in diversified, cross-cultural performances. Since its opening, The Lensic has increased its independent production and presentation schedule, which includes the Lensic Presents Series, a year-round effort to present diverse programming that showcases national talent.