Since “Song of Pueblo” was first performed in 2008, the idea of performing with an orchestra has always been a dream, but this year it is being made possible because of a project known as Pueblo Soundscapes.
The free live performance will be Saturday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m. at Pueblo’s Memorial Hall.
“Song of Pueblo” is a musical journey of Pueblo’s cultural history, performed by El Pueblo Ensemble and the University of Colorado Boulder Chamber Orchestra. This live oratorio, composed by the film director and composer Daniel Valdez, is presented by the American Music Research Center (AMRC), The Visiting Artist Roser Endowment and the CU Boulder College of Music. “Song of Pueblo” is a property of History Colorado.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
WHAT: Song of Pueblo, performed by the El Pueblo Ensemble and University of Colorado Boulder Chamber Orchestra
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m. (doors open 1 p.m.)
WHERE: Memorial Hall, 1 City Hall Place, Pueblo, CO 81003TICKETS: Admission is free, but attendees must have a ticket. Tickets are available at the Memorial Hall Box Office, in person, any time before the event. The Box Office is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Valdez spent much of 2008 in Pueblo conducting interviews and doing research. His 15 original songs begin with the defeat of Comanche Chief Cuervo Verde by Spanish Gen. Juan Batista de Anza at the foot of Greenhorn Mountain in the late 1700s. Other stories tell of life at El Pueblo Trading Post in the 1840s, the Pueblo Flood of 1921, the Sand Creek and Ludlow massacres and other major events in the region’s past.
One of the elements of the oratorio is Pueblo’s immigration story. To find workers for the steel mill, Gen. Jackson Palmer sent out recruitment flyers to dozens of countries. As a result, Pueblo became a most diverse community with newspapers in many languages. Valdez has woven the music of many of those countries into the fabric of “Song of Pueblo.” The show is an anthology of music styles that change with the times. That’s why Pueblo’s unique mixture of ethnic music is the subject of the Pueblo Soundscapes of the People project, a study underway under the leadership of ethnomusicologists Susan Thomas and Xochitl Chavez, a Pueblo native currently at the University of California, Riverside. Also involved in the project is Austin Okibo, a University of Colorado professor recently named interim director of AMRC.
For nearly two years, the team and students have interviewed Pueblo musicians, historians and families. The goal is to create a digital archive of interviews and performances that will be accessible to the public through the libraries of University of Colorado and Colorado State University Pueblo.
Valdez is best known for his work as musical director of the films Zoot Suit (1981) and La Bamba (1987). Also an accomplished vocalist and guitarist, Valdez recorded & “Canciones de mi Padre — Songs of My Father” with Linda Ronstadt in 1987. Valdez will be present at the performances.
The October performances in Pueblo and Boulder have been made possible by the American Music Research Center, the CU School of Music and funded by the Visiting Artist Roser Endowment.
CU musicians and faculty have spent recent months adapting Valdez’s compositions to a score for orchestra. Max Wolpert, Ph.D., orchestrated the music along with Ilan Blanck for the University of Colorado Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Renee Gilliland, doctor of musical arts.
“Song of Pueblo” is produced by Deborah Espinosa and performed by El Pueblo Ensemble. The songs are woven together with narration that enables the audience to journey through 300 years of the region’s compelling stories of the “people of the mountains and plains.”
This cultural history performance features vocalists Felicia Gallegos Pettis, Carlos Crull, and Mireya Rinna; guitarist Wayne Wilkinson; percussionist Aavalajn Wiggins; and keyboardist Michael Beck.
A visual backdrop of photographs and historical videos, projected on a large screen behind the band, was produced by Juan Espinosa, the show’s musical director.
On Thursday, Oct. 26, the concert will be performed at CU Boulder at Grusin Hall.