Teaching Tradition
Arriving to the sweltering Costa Chica, the coastal region in the state of Oaxaca
As our pickup truck kicked up a trail of dust, lurching towards the village of Cerro del Chivo in Oaxaca, I felt a world away from Mexico City. I was finally about to see the kind of musical scene that I had studied in class: a place where people sing to pass the time, and where stories are passed down across generations through verses and songs. Here, everything from festivals to funerals are filled with the oral traditions that most people in the capital only get to hear through concert-hall performances and compilation CDs.
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Audio Flipbook: Choosing Mexico’s Music
This portrait of Edgar Alejandro “Alex” Paz is part of a series of interviews I did with students at the School of Mexican Music in Mexico City. Alex and his classmates come from diverse backgrounds and bring a wide range of goals to the study of Mexican music. Some are looking for local fame, or at least a career of gigging at restaurants and weddings. Others want to become more versatile musicians. Some are diehard Mexican music fans since childhood, and others, like Alex, had to warm up to it.
In this interview, Alex tells us about his dilemma: finding his ideal career, and an appreciation for his own country, in a city that bombards him with a world of choices. He worries about making a living, but cares more about holding down a job where he can “find creativity.” Here he talks about his journey to appreciating Mexican music.
The Big Night
The violin section of the Mariachi workshop at La Casa de la Música Mexicana prepare for the annual Christmas Concert.
Here are some photos and audio I gathered at the Concierto Navideño, the annual school-wide Christmas concert at La Casa de la Música Mexicana in Mexico City, which took place on December 15, 2008.
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Christmas Carols & Costume Changes
Our two big Christmas concerts (Carols and School-Wide) totally rocked and went off without a hitch. However, no show is complete without a little wardrobe malfunction; and at the Carols Concert that supreme honor was mine.
My classmates and I gathered at the Casa de la Cultura IV República on a Sunday morning to warm up for a widely-advertised hour of Mexican Carols. The venue is located on the northern border of Mexico City’s historic downtown, sandwiched between two bustling outdoor markets spanning several blocks. Thus we anticipated a large crowd of parents, grandparents, and taco vendors.
Warming up, and some of us still waking up, before the Carols Concert
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Fa la la la la
Since 2007, residents of Mexico City get into the Christmas spirit with free ice-skating in the Zócalo
Am totally beat from a day of rehearsals for the School of Mexican Music’s Concierto Navideño, the annual Christmas concert. With less than a week left to prepare, today the teachers and students alike were visibly on edge. And no one more than me, since I will be, as far as I know, the only female Michigander making her mariachi debut in Mexico City that evening.
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Up to four awards will be available to pursue projects around an aspect of international contemporary or popular music as a cultural force for expression. Preference will be given to creative projects that are conveyed in a dynamic fashion and are accompanied by a feasible plan. In addition to presenting unique projects on music as a global force for mutual understanding. Deadline to apply is March 1, 2012.