Socorro's Performing Arts Series
Footloose, Carolina Chocolate Drops
Socorro – New Mexico Tech’s Performing Arts Series continues its musically diverse traditions in 2009 with a performance of Footloose, a free Presidential Chamber music concert and an evening of traditional Piedmont Stringband music.
Start the new year with a free concert by Willy Sucre and friends at the Presidential Chamber music concert on Monday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 pm. The evening will feature the string quartet of Violist Willy Sucre, Violist Willy Sucre; Violinist Krzysztof Zimovwski, and Violinist Anthony Templeton, with a cellist to be announced. The String Quartet in F Major K 590 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is on the program. Alfred Einstein, the noted Mozart scholar, says of the Allegretto: “One of the most sensitive movements in the whole literature of chamber music, it seems to mingle the bliss and sorrow of a farewell to life. How beautiful life has been! How sad! How brief!”
Wednesday, Feb. 11: In 1984 the movie Footloose, staring Kevin Bacon, captured the heart of America. With its youthful spirit, dazzling dance and electrifying music, Footloose launched a dance craze that spread across the nation.
Come see what the show is all about – or see it again at Macey Center, part of the NM Tech Performing Arts Series. The show starts at 7:30 pm. Visit www.nmtpas.org (http://www.nmtpas.org) for information or call 575-835-5688.
The now classic story begins when Ren, a boy from Chicago, has to move to a Midwestern town with his mom, he discovers a conservative world where rock music and dancing have been banned. Ren and his classmates want a senior prom, and it isn’t long before Ren has the whole class on its feet sending the town and it’s local preacher into a frenzy. It’s the youth of the town that teaches the elders there is no sin in being young, having fun and getting to dance!
Footloose has the heart, it’s got the music and it’s got everyone on their feet! The show’s classic 80’s hits include Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear It for the Boy and of course the unforgettable Footloose!
Friday, Feb. 27: The Carolina Chocolate Drops are a group of young African-American stringband musicians that have come to together to play the rich tradition of fiddle and banjo music in Carolinas’ piedmont. Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson both hail from the green hills of the North Carolina Piedmont while Dom Flemons is native to sunny Arizona.
Although they have diverse musical backgrounds, their musical heritage is drawn from the foothills of the North and South Carolina. Under the tutelage of Joe Thompson, said to be the last black traditional string band player, of Mebane, NC the group strives to carry on the long standing traditional music of the black and white communities.
The group will perform at New Mexico Tech’s Macey Center as part of the Performing Arts Series during the Civil War Reenactment. Call 575-835-5688 for tickets or visit nmtpas.org
“Joe’s musical heritage runs as deeply and fluidly as the many rivers and streams that traverse our landscape. We are proud to carry on the tradition of black musicians like Odell and Nate Thompson, Dink Roberts, John Snipes, Libba Cotten, Emp White, and countless others who have passed beyond memory and recognition,” says the band’s online information.
A Little on Piedmont Stringband Music
When most of people think of fiddle and banjo music, they think of the southern Appalachian Mountains as the source of this music. While the mountains of Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina are great strongholds of traditional music today, they are certainly not the source.
The nuances of piedmont stringband music stem from the demographics of the piedmont and thereby its focus on the banjo as the lead instrument. Among black ensembles, the banjo often set the pace and if a fiddle was present and it often was not, it served as accompaniment and not as the lead instrument as is more common in the Appalachian tradition. A guitar or mandolin would have been rare, but not unheard of, in these bands but the foundation of this tradition lies rooted in the antebellum combination of fiddle and banjo.
For more information on any of these shows, call 575-835-5688 or visit nmtpas.org
Footloose, Carolina Chocolate Drops
Socorro – New Mexico Tech’s Performing Arts Series continues its musically diverse traditions in 2009 with a performance of Footloose, a free Presidential Chamber music concert and an evening of traditional Piedmont Stringband music.
Start the new year with a free concert by Willy Sucre and friends at the Presidential Chamber music concert on Monday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 pm. The evening will feature the string quartet of Violist Willy Sucre, Violist Willy Sucre; Violinist Krzysztof Zimovwski, and Violinist Anthony Templeton, with a cellist to be announced. The String Quartet in F Major K 590 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is on the program. Alfred Einstein, the noted Mozart scholar, says of the Allegretto: “One of the most sensitive movements in the whole literature of chamber music, it seems to mingle the bliss and sorrow of a farewell to life. How beautiful life has been! How sad! How brief!”
Wednesday, Feb. 11: In 1984 the movie Footloose, staring Kevin Bacon, captured the heart of America. With its youthful spirit, dazzling dance and electrifying music, Footloose launched a dance craze that spread across the nation.
Come see what the show is all about – or see it again at Macey Center, part of the NM Tech Performing Arts Series. The show starts at 7:30 pm. Visit www.nmtpas.org (http://www.nmtpas.org) for information or call 575-835-5688.
The now classic story begins when Ren, a boy from Chicago, has to move to a Midwestern town with his mom, he discovers a conservative world where rock music and dancing have been banned. Ren and his classmates want a senior prom, and it isn’t long before Ren has the whole class on its feet sending the town and it’s local preacher into a frenzy. It’s the youth of the town that teaches the elders there is no sin in being young, having fun and getting to dance!
Footloose has the heart, it’s got the music and it’s got everyone on their feet! The show’s classic 80’s hits include Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear It for the Boy and of course the unforgettable Footloose!
Friday, Feb. 27: The Carolina Chocolate Drops are a group of young African-American stringband musicians that have come to together to play the rich tradition of fiddle and banjo music in Carolinas’ piedmont. Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson both hail from the green hills of the North Carolina Piedmont while Dom Flemons is native to sunny Arizona.
Although they have diverse musical backgrounds, their musical heritage is drawn from the foothills of the North and South Carolina. Under the tutelage of Joe Thompson, said to be the last black traditional string band player, of Mebane, NC the group strives to carry on the long standing traditional music of the black and white communities.
The group will perform at New Mexico Tech’s Macey Center as part of the Performing Arts Series during the Civil War Reenactment. Call 575-835-5688 for tickets or visit nmtpas.org
“Joe’s musical heritage runs as deeply and fluidly as the many rivers and streams that traverse our landscape. We are proud to carry on the tradition of black musicians like Odell and Nate Thompson, Dink Roberts, John Snipes, Libba Cotten, Emp White, and countless others who have passed beyond memory and recognition,” says the band’s online information.
A Little on Piedmont Stringband Music
When most of people think of fiddle and banjo music, they think of the southern Appalachian Mountains as the source of this music. While the mountains of Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina are great strongholds of traditional music today, they are certainly not the source.
The nuances of piedmont stringband music stem from the demographics of the piedmont and thereby its focus on the banjo as the lead instrument. Among black ensembles, the banjo often set the pace and if a fiddle was present and it often was not, it served as accompaniment and not as the lead instrument as is more common in the Appalachian tradition. A guitar or mandolin would have been rare, but not unheard of, in these bands but the foundation of this tradition lies rooted in the antebellum combination of fiddle and banjo.
For more information on any of these shows, call 575-835-5688 or visit nmtpas.org