Latino NEA National Heritage Fellows Perform at Smithsonian Folklife Festival

June 15, 2004

		Contact: Victoria Hutter 202-682-5570

Washington, D.C. - The National Endowment for the Arts welcomes Latino musicians to the nation's capital with Latino NEA National Heritage Fellows concerts and workshops. In partnership with the University of New Mexico, the NEA is sponsoring these events as part of Nuestra Música: Music in Latino Culture, a program of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Events take place June 23 and 26 and July 1 and 3.

The Latino NEA National Heritage Fellows are six artists representing traditions originating in Mexico, New Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico with instruments ranging from violin to jarana (small guitar) and timbales to batá drums. (Biographies of the artists are attached.)

As recipients of an NEA National Heritage Fellowship these musicians are among 33 Latino artists honored through the NEA National Heritage Fellowship program, which confers the nation's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Each year, the NEA awards a $20,000 fellowship to 10 master folk and traditional artists. These fellowships, awarded through nominations from the public, recognize the recipients' artistic excellence and support their continuing contributions to our nation's traditional arts heritage. The NEA National Heritage Fellowship program began in 1982.

Nati Cano (far right), 1990 Fellow and Mexican Mariachi musician with his group Mariachi Los Camperos. Photo by Jim Saah.

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia, who is of Mexican descent, said, "It gives us great pleasure to partner with the University of New Mexico and the Smithsonian Institution in presenting these six NEA National Heritage Fellows. These artists whose music demonstrates the compelling diversity and depth of musical traditions practiced in the United States promise to provide exciting concerts and workshops." Chairman Gioia will be on hand to open the June 23 concert.

Mexican String Traditions in Mexico and the United States
Concert on June 23 at 5:30 p.m. at the La Fonda Music and Dance Stage

• Nati Cano, 1990 Fellow and Mexican Mariachi musician with his group Mariachi Los Camperos
• José Gutiérrez, 1989 Fellow and Mexican Jarocho musician/singer Y Los Hermanos Ochoa
• Roberto and Lorenzo Martínez, 2003 Fellows, Hispanic musicians with their group Reflexions

Nuestra Música narrative workshop on June 26 at 2:20 p.m. at El Portal Narrative Stage Nati Cano, José Gutiérrez, and Roberto and Lorenzo Martínez

Afro-Latino Drum Tradition
Concert on July 1 at 5:30 p.m. at the La Fonda Music and Dance Stage

• Felipe García Villamil, 2000 Fellow, Afro-Cuban drummer/santero with his group Emikeké
• Viento de Agua featuring Juan Gutiérrez, 1996 Fellow, Puerto Rican drummer

Nuestra Música narrative workshop on July 3 at 2:20 p.m. at El Portal Narrative Stage Felipe García Villamil and Juan Gutiérrez

Please see more information about the NEA National Heritage Fellowships.

For more information on the NEA National Heritage Fellowships, contact the NEA Office of Communications at 202-682-5570.

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