sponsored by 2009-2010 HOT Season for Young People Teacher Guidebooks Fiesta Mexicana Sones de México THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! TPAC Education is made possible in part by the generous contributions, sponsorships, and in-kind gifts from the following corporations, foundations, government agencies, and other organizations. HOT Season for Young People and HOT Guidebook Sponsor : This performance HOT Transportation grants is funded in part underwritten by Funding for the by a grant from the ArtSmart program Southern Arts Federation is generously in partnership provided by with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Tennessee Arts Commission. Proud sponsor of the HOT Season and TPAC’s Family Field Trip Series AT&T Gannett Foundation Rainforest Café Allstate Insurance Company Gaylord Entertainment Rechter Family Fund* American Airlines Foundation Reliant Bank The Gibson Foundation Bank of America Southern Arts Federation The Joel C. 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Vanderbilt University The Community Foundation Lynch2 Vector Management of Middle Tennessee The Memorial Foundation Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis Corrections Corporation XMi Commercial Real Estate of America Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority Davis-Kidd Booksellers Inc. *A fund of the Community Foundation of Miller & Martin, PLLC The Dell Foundation Middle Tennessee Nashville Predators Foundation Dollar General Corporation National Endowment Doubletree Hotel for the Arts Special Thanks to: Downtown Nashville Neal & Harwell, PLC The HCA Foundation on The Jeffrey and Donna Eskind Family Nissan North America, Inc. behalf of HCA and the TriStar Foundation Family of Hospitals Piedmont Natural Gas The John and Carole Ferguson Advised Fund* Pinnacle Financial Partners Leading Hotel Sponsor for Samuel M. Fleming Foundation The Premiere Event TPAC Education: Homewood Suites by Hilton - Publix Super Markets Charities Patricia C. & Thomas F. Frist Designated Nashville Downtown Fund* Mary C. Ragland Foundation Contents Dear Fellow Teachers, On behalf of all of us in Sones de México Ensemble Chicago, I would About Sones like to welcome you to our de México page 3 special TPAC presentation of About this concert page 4 Fiesta Mexicana. We have been working hard with the TPAC Mexican Son page 5 team to make sure that you and The United your students get the most from Mexican States page 6 this experience. We hope that these materials will help you Multi-Ethnic Influences pp.7-8 introduce your students to music, The Instruments pp. 9-12 dance and to Mexican culture. Connections page 13 Like the U.S., Mexico has a strong national identity, but at the same time, it is also a diverse country with many ethnic and regional differ- Explorations: ences. Thus, there is no single Mexican music “style.” Sones de México Music and Art page 14 Ensemble specializes in regional folk music and dance styles (i.e. “son”) from various parts of Mexico, each with unique instruments, Explorations: singing and playing styles. Some of the material may be familiar to Music Speaks pp. 15-16 you and some may not. Expect a grand tour through Mexico’s musi- cal cultures and the magic world that surrounds them. We will explore Explorations for Older Students page 17 Mexico’s Native, European, and African roots and visit an exciting world of animals and myths in Mexican folklore with everyone’s par- Translation o f ticipation welcome! La Bamba page 18 Teachers have an important role in making Fiesta Mexicana more than an entertaining show by turning it into an educational opportunity. TPAC Guidebook by Juan Dies and Sandy Tipping with editing by Lattie Brown. This guide has some ideas to help you, but of course, you should also explore your own creative ways to enhance your students’ experience. crest of the You should convey to your students that only when we understand more Mexican flag about the meaning of a cultural song or a dance, may we truly share it with the people who produce it. Enjoy! Juan Díes Ethnomusicologist, Executive Director Sones de México Ensemble A note from our Sponsor - Regions Bank Regions is proud to be a part of the Middle Tennessee Community. We care about our customers, and we care about our community. We also care about the education of our students. That is why we are proud to support TPAC’s Humanities Outreach in Tennessee Program. What an important sponsorship this is - reaching over 25,000 students and teachers - some students would never see a performing arts production without this program. Regions continues to reinforce its commitment to our community and education and, in addition to supporting programs such as HOT, we will have over 76 associates teaching financial literacy in local classrooms this year. Thank you, teachers, for giving your students this wonderful opportunity. They will certainly enjoy the experience. You are creating memories of a lifetime, and Regions is proud to be able to help make this opportunity possible. Jim Schmitz Area President Middle Tennessee ut Sone bo s d 3 A e M page éxico Sones de México Ensemble Chicago is a unique group of seasoned Mexican folk musicians and educators. The group specializes in son, a rich and lively Mexican music tradition and its many regional styles. Bob Tarte of The Beat magazine (Los Angeles) says, “After 13 years in the U.S., these overachievers bring so much authenticity to the regional folk styles, so much virtuosity to the orchestral excursions (on which they play over 50 all-acoustic instruments), and so much fun to everything they touch, that you can’t help but surrender to their creativity.” Today, Sones de México travels around the country presenting concerts, accompanying professional dance companies, playing clubs, and offering lectures and workshops. From its inception Sones de México has taught and performed for thousands of children in cities around the U.S. The group embarks on a journey through Mexican music and the magic world that surrounds it. Children begin by learning about the four sacred elements of nature for the Aztecs: Water, Earth, Fire, and Wind. Then they learn songs about different animals that inhabit the Mexican ecosystem, like the acamaya, the crocodile, the legendary mermaid, a mouse, a buzzard, a duck, and even a cat! They also clap Mexican rhythms and learn the difference between a slow and a fast tempo. First and foremost, they learn how fun it is to play and dance Mexican music. The ensemble has recorded three commercially available CDs. Their most recent release, entitled Esta Tierra Es Tuya (This Land Is Your Land), was nominated for both a Latin GRAMMY® for Best Folk Album of 2007 and a GRAMMY® for Best Mexican/Mexican- American Album of 2007. The group has been featured on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” PRI’s “The World,” and “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor. The other titles, ¡Que Florezca! (Let It Bloom) and Fandango on 18th Street, are available from the group’s website, www.sonesdemexico.com, iTunes and other outlets. THE ENSEMBLE:(pictured at right in order, photos by Todd Winters) Victor Pichardo, music director Juan Dies Lorena Iñiguez Juan Rivera Zacbé Pichardo Javier Saume ut this C bo onc e 4 A ert pag With lively rhythms, powerful melodies, and color- ful dancing, the ensemble Sones de México (SOH- nes deh MEH-hee-koh) takes students on a journey through Mexico’s colorful history in a program entitled Fiesta Mexicana. Students will experience an ancient Aztec ceremony celebrating the four elements, meet a Tex-Mex mouse who finds him- self in a bit of trouble, and hop on a human train with a rosy-cheeked old woman who likes to dance. Sones de México brings these characters to life in an atmosphere of high-spirited fun, while a dancer dressed in vivid colors literally puts a jump in their steps. In Mexico, son is a term used to define a large family of regional music and dance styles. Each region has its own brand of son—gusto, son jaro- cho, son huasteco, etc.—each with its own reper- toire, instruments, and dancing and singing style. Sones de México believes in both perpetuating and renewing the regional styles of music and dance known in Mexico as son (SOHN). This concert will highlight the regional variations as well as the diverse ethnic roots of Mexico that have influenced son: pre-Columbian, European, and African traditions. Son is played and danced in a fandango --a dance fiesta-- often from sundown until sunrise or longer. It is also a playful time where tradition becomes fluid: rules are made and broken as old forms are applied to new experi- ence. After the fiesta, tradition is passed on quietly, as the events of the fandango crystallize in the memories of the participants, becoming new lore for future resurgence. We call this a living tradition. Sones de México at the Grammies! can SO exi N M ge 5 pa WHAT IS MEXICAN SON ? Excerpts from Fiddler Magazine Fall 1998 This musical genre, found throughout Mexico and other parts of Latin America, is not easily defined. In Mexico, different regions are known for different varieties of son, each with its own instruments, rhythms, dances, and performance traditions. Characteristics of the son do exist but are not limiting. For example, normally, the violin carries the melody. However, there are regions where the son’s melody is strong but the violin is not one of the main instruments.