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Global Expressions Series presentsLos Cenzontles
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“As a group, Los Cenzontles has developed into one of the region’s cultural treasures,”-Andrew Gilbert, Contra Costa Times.
“…remarkable-Los Cenzontles play and sing with a confidence and style well beyond their years. This is a joyous celebration of youthful energy and of the timeless infectious appeal of traditional Mexican music.”-Sign Out Magazine.
Los Cenzontles was invited to Boise State to participate in the Global Expressions Series produced by Students Activities. Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Boise State Special Events Center, Los Cenzontles Touring Group will perform a collaboration of music and dance to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month.
As a part of the Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center out of San Pablo, California, located in the San Francisco East Bay Area, the touring group will perform traditional mariachi music with nine members. LCMAC began in 1989 as a California Arts Council started by Eugene Rodriguez and Berenice Zuniga-Yap. According to the Los Cenzontles web page, their goal was to create a family-like environment for young people to learn and explore traditional Mexican music and dance. In 1994, Rodriguez incorporated LCMAC as a non-profit cultural organization. According to the LCMAC web page, “The mission of Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center is to provide affordable arts education to youth within a social/cultural context that results in the strengthening of the individual family and community.” Accomplishments of LCMAC include the 2002 Coming Up Taller Awards made by the Presidential Committee on Arts and Humanities, Rodirguez received a Director’s Award from the California Arts Council for outstanding leadership in November of 2002, and the LCMAC has gained recognition “on both sides of the border as an important center for the research, preservation, and dissemination of traditional Mexican culture,” according to the Los Cenzontles web page.
Saturday night the stage will be lit up with dance and song. The touring group consists of two female singers, two male singers, three female dancers, violin, clarinet, guitarr`on and guitars of various folk variations such as the vihuela, jarana, and guitarra de son, according to the LCMAC web page. Cenzontle is the Aztec word for mockingbird and the multi-voice mockingbird suits the unique, traditional style of Los Cenzontles.
“Global expressions started last year. In its first season, we had a combination of dance, music and spoken word. All of the shows this year will be performed at the Boise State Special Events Center, at 8 p.m. on Saturdays. Free parking will be available in the LA parking lot and tickets are available for sale at the door, or Select-a-Seat,” Allen said. “We are trying to get a rhythm going and we are working on getting something new each week to cover a wide spectrum of Global Expressions.”
Tickets for Los Cenzontles are $5 for students of all ages, faculty, staff, seniors and alumni. General admission tickets are $10. To read more about Los Cenzontles or to listen to clips from their CD’s go to www.loscenzontles.com. Also, after the show, CD’s and DVD’s will be available for purchase in the lobby of the Boise State Special Events Center.
Amber Fuger / Asst. Culture Editor
