Join us: All Ages/All Welcome! Free Event! ADA Accessible!
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Location: The Little Theater at Project MORE High-School
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What is a peña? A peña is an informal Latin American folk music gathering. Peñas are found in different forms across Latin America. Peñas are more participatory than a normal concert in that usually more than one musical group performs, group singing often occurs, and frequently community members are invited to share a song informally as part of the event. By design Peñas are intended to be inclusive community events open to music lovers of all ages.
What is La Peña del SurCo? A cultural initiative led by ethnomusicologist and arts and health researcher Dr. Jennie Gubner and her Argentine/Chilean folk music trio El SurCo. Gubner’s current research interests involve leveraging intercultural participatory music practices to foster and strengthen age-friendly healthy communities and intergenerational spaces of diasporic belonging. La Peña del SurCo seeks to celebrate folk music traditions from Argentina, Chile and across Latin America while building community through intimate, acoustic, and participatory musical practices. Each month our events feature a 30 minute performance by El SurCo and another 30 minute performance by a rotating featured community group. Our events also feature a handful of individual performances from invited community members. We always have empanadas for sale! Drinks will be available for purchase and there is a water bottle filling station at the venue. Read more about this project and see our past event photo archive here.
Featured October Performers:
Grupo Arizona is a dynamic classical and jazz fusion chamber ensemble rooted in Mexican and Latin musical traditions. The ensemble is based in Tucson, AZ, and comprises UA music students and alumni. Its mission is to elevate and expand the reach of the rich musical genres from Mexico and across Latin America. Its performances pay homage to the original artists while also serving as a creative outlet for its members to explore their musical education and creativity through unique arrangements. Check out their instragram account here.
El SurCo is a musical collective that blends guitars, violin, charango, bombo, and vocal harmonies to bring to life chacareras, cuecas, chamamés, gatos, cumbias, tonadas, and other Latin American popular and folk stringed music traditions from Argentina to Colombia and beyond. The word surco means groove in Spanish, and references the furrows where seeds are planted in agricultural fields. A musical term with a rural subtext that speaks to the landscape where many of these styles emerged and continue to thrive, El SurCo (or The Southern Collective) transport their listeners into the diverse and vibrant musical ecosystems of South America. Current SurCo members are: Maxi Larrea (guitar, vocals, bombo), Jennie Gubner (violin, vocals, bombo), Esteban Hernández Parra (viola, bombo, vocals), Gabriela Ocadiz (vocals, guitar), and frequent invited guests.
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This event was organized by University of Arizona Ethnomusicologist Dr. Jennie Gubner with the support of the band members of El SurCo (Maxi Larrea, Esteban Hernández & Gabriela Ocadiz) and AIAR Graduate Student Researcher, Chris Zatarain.
This event is made possible by generous support from: The Applied Intercultural Arts Research Graduate Interdisciplinary Program (AIAR GIDP) aiar.arizona.edu, The School of Music, and Southwest Center at the University of Arizona, The Tucson Guitar Society, and The Culture of Peace Alliance Tucson.
For more information about this event series or if you are interested in sharing a song at a peña, please contact jgubner@arizona.edu
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