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THE DIGITAL ISSUE
UTEP kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month with Latin Music Festival
Performing at the Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall performers at the Latin Music festival explore the different styles and techniques of dance. Photo by Nate Flores/The Prospector B JEWEL OCAMPO Y STAFF REPORTER • THE PROSPECTOR
The UTEP Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month with the Latin Music Festival, a three-day event where guitar and piano faculty and students performed classical and commercial music from composers across Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Piano Professor, D.M.A, Dena Kay Jones, who helped organize the event, said planning began in back in January, with full organization starting in the summer. Freshman to graduate level students auditioned on the third week of classes; with pieces they had studied for months. “I feel like this music deserves to be heard, and these students and these faculty put a lot of effort in,” Dena Kay Jones said. “It’s an even higher level; there’s a lot of validity in that some students studied really hard over the summer.” The festival opened Sept. 8
with a performance by guitar student recitals featuring solo Professor Hiram Rodríguez and group performances. and guest artist Cesar Participants chose their own Aquino, also known as the Latin composers and wrote “Iberia Duo”. For Rodriguez, short notes about their the event was a chance to selections for the program. highlight student’s and Guitarist Alberto Torres, faculty’s talent. a master’s student in “It’s crucial for us to give the performance, played “Sonata students the opportunity to Clasica Allegro” by Manuel go on the stage. To experience M. Ponce. the anxiety of preparing “I love Latin music, I think and step up on the stage in the most exciting part was front of 30, 50, 100 people,” choosing the music I was Rodríguez said. “Feeling what going to play,.” Torres said. it’s like to perform in front “It means a lot because I of a live audience, because it’s come from a Mexican family. music. We cannot just hide in I mean, my first language is our practice rooms. No, we Spanish, and I used to live in have to show the world what Juarez almost my entire life, we do. But once you’re on the so it’s exciting to show this stage, you just want to keep type of music.” going.” That evening, Jones The duo performed pieces returned to the stage for her by composers such as Vicente concert “Imágenes de Espana” Amigo and Martin Espinoza, which featured works by and they closed with “La Flor composers from Spain’s de la Canela” by Chabuca Nationalist school, including Granda. Their energetic Isaac Albeniz, Enrique finale earned an encore and Granados, Manuel de Falla a standing ovation from the and Joaquin Rodrigo. entire auditorium. Dena Kay Jones closed with The second day began with de Falla’s “El amor brujo (The
Love Bewitched)”, which she described as a “simple depiction of a small village united to cast out evil.” Dena Kay Jones said the piece resonates with current events as well as her own personal journey. “Classical musicians, we’re always so exposed to music from Italy, France and Germany. But there’s this whole pocket of music circling Spain and Portugal, and then that Spanishlanguage connection with Central America, Mexico, right on the border here, and all of Latin America,” Dena Kay Jones said. “This music, this culture that we feel has a real connection with who we are, as faculty, as students and as guests.” Guest artist Cristina Ana Jones who performed with Professor Dena Kay Jones on Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios, praised the El Paso Music scene. “We love performing with each other, so that’s why I’m here,” Cristina Ana
Jones said. “El Paso has always been a really warm and welcoming music community. There’s no music community like it, honestly.” The festival was concluded with “Mi Cuba”, a concert that traced the history of Cuban music and dance through Latin Jazz and Folklore. The performance featured UTEP professor of commercial guitar Shawn Mahoney, bassist David Rodriguez and Troupe. The three-day festival brought together students, faculty and guest artists to celebrate the deep connections between Latin music and El Paso’s cultural identity setting the stage for performance and community. Jewel Ocampo is a staff reporter for The Prospector and may be reached at jnocampo@miners.utep.edu