Concierto de Musica Huapango Arribeño: Para Las Familias

Mexic-Arte Museum invites the public to a free concert featuring Raul Orduña y Los Trovadores, along with special invited guest Poet and Trovador de la Sierra Gorda Mexicana, Ángel González de Palomas Xichú Guanajuato. The concert will take place Saturday, May 27, 2023, from 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Don Ángel González was born in Palomas de Xichu, Guanajuato in 1956. He has dedicated most of his life to maintaining the tradition of the huapango arribeño, both as an interpreter and a composer. He is one of the most renowned Guanajuato authors of this music, developed in the mountains of the small towns in Guanajuato. Huapango arribeño, or son arribeño, is a style of music played in the “zona media” region (part of San Luis Potosi, Querétaro and Guanajuato). Traditionally, it is played using four instruments (jarana huasteca, huapanguera, and two violins). The lyrics are mostly improvised and sung in the style of décimas, or versed poems. The word Huapango likely derives from the Nahuatl word cuauhpanco, which literally means on top of the wood, alluding to a wooden platform on which dancers perform zapateado dance steps.

When asked if he is more musician or poet, Don Ángel responded “the arribeño huapango requires both. That is, to be a good poet and to be a good musician. He continues and the poet is revealed. A mí me gusta ser la voz del pueblo y no sólo eso, sino ser la voz de los bosques, del agua, de los cambios climáticos, de lo que se requiera. I like to be the voice of the people, and not only that, but to be the voice of the forests, of water, of climatic changes, of whatever is required.” Don Ángel González is presented by Raul Orduña in conjunction with the Huapango Sin Fronteras Festival. Raul is the festival founder and an Austin-based huapango arribeno trovador (poet-practitioner).

For the song he composed in 2011, El Nacimiento Del Huapango, Raul Orduna writes, “After a study about our tradition, I decided to compose this poetry about the root of our music, hoping the content is understood, since our music is a collective art of many years and of our ancestors, giving thanks of course to all the musicians who have helped me develop as a troubadour, poet, and guitar player of this beautiful tradition such as the huapango arribeno, and music of my Mexico.”

Please join us for this unique experience to enjoy one of Mexico’s richest musical traditions and view the current exhibition, Expresiones de Mexico, Arte de la Gente, Art of the People.