Join us for a special evening of Swedish music at Mountain City Traditional Arts

 

World Artists Experiences and MCTA Present: 

Natalia Arroyo Ensemble

World Artists Experiences (WAE), in partnership with Mountain City Traditional Arts (MCTA), and the Embassy of Mexico, will present the Natalia Arroyo Ensemble from Mexico on Thursday, April 25 at 7pm, at MCTA, 25 East Main Street, Frostburg, MD.  The concert is free and open to the public.  No tickets are required, though donations are greatly appreciated.

The Natalia Arroyo Ensemble will include Natalia Arroyo on violin, Edwin Montes on guitar and José Luis Rodriquez on double bass.  The group performs traditional music from northern Mexico, consolidating their own sound in a fresh and innovative way. The original arrangements and compositions of the Ensemble’s repertoire fuse the roots of Mexican music with chamber music and jazz. The improvisation and creativity displayed by each musician is another fundamental feature of the ensemble. The result is a blend of sounds that captures the ensemble's rich knowledge of the Mexican traditional music and the ever-changing rhythms of northern Baja California. Their performance has been described as fresh, intense and innovative. Improvisation of the violin and a festive atmosphere are a fundamental part of their world-wide performances. 

Reconnecting Roots (Reconectando Raíces) is the ensemble's first full-length album. It was supported by the National Endowment for Culture and Arts of Mexico (FONCA). The ensemble has performed in various venues including Salisbury University and Allegany College of Maryland, the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C., USA, the Feria Internacional del Libro in Mexico, the program Foro Once of television network Canal Once in Mexico, among others.

 

Award-winning multi-instrumentalist and composer Natalia Arroyo was born near the Mexican border, and began playing the violin at age 7. Later, she studied classical violin at the Conservatory de las Rosas in Morelia, Michoacán. Between 2003 and 2007, she went to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to study Tango and Folklore. There, she was selected to be a member of the Tango Orchestra of Maestro Rodolfo Mederos.

 

She has initiated and has been involved in several music projects with different communities, such as the “Singing we get to know each other” music workshops in Native Kumiai communities, the “Musical nest” project with Native Mixtecan communities, and the “Cultural caravans for peace” initiative in Atoyac, Guerrero Mexico.

 

Natalia has contributed to environmental protection activities for many years. While working for the Mexico-based NGO Ecological Group GECI, she composed a Songbook to promote nature conservation in the Islands located off the western coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. She developed music workshops with local communities and founded the “Isla Guadalupe fishing community choir”.

 

As a creator she has composed three albums, “La Vereda”, “Island’s songbook” and “Reconnecting with roots”. Her discography as an arranger and performer includes five albums. She has performed in important festivals around the world such as the Smithsonian Folk Festival in Washington, D.C., the Music Festival in Pretoria, South Africa, the Autumn Festival in Paris, France, the Verk&Verkhart festival in Austria, the Red Rock Folk Festival in northwestern Ontario, Canada, the Music Festival in Bogotá, Colombia, the Arts Festival in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; the International Festival of Music in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the International Music Festival in San Jose, Costa Rica, and many more. She was a resident at the OMI International Artist Residence in New York, USA and a fellow of the National Arts Fund (México) for traditional music creation.

Edwin Montes, an award-winning guitarist, is a classical trained guitarist with a bachelor’s degree in music from the Faculty of Arts of Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico. He has won regional and international guitar competitions. He was the first-place winner at a National Guitar Competition during the Hispanic Guitar Festival in Tijuana, Mexico and he won the third-place prize at an International Guitar Ensemble Festival in Taxco, Mexico.

He studied with internationally renowned guitarists, like Giulio Tampalini at the Brescia Guitar Academy in Italy, Freddie Bryant in New York City, and Thomas Muller and Pablo Garibai during the Instumenta Festival in Oaxaca, Mexico.

 

His creativity and passion for music are also expressed through his collaborations with other musicians. He has performed with various groups throughout Mexico, U.S.A., and Italy. He has collaborated with different ensembles such as: The Jacky Britton's band, Ruh Saahil (a Middle East music ensemble), the Ensenada Guitar Trio (classical guitar music for three guitars). He is active with the Petit Comite (New Orleans Jazz), the Ivan Trujillo Ensemble (contemporary jazz), the Trio Berimbau (Brazilian Jazz), and the Wilfrido Terrazas Sea Quintet.

 

Edwin is a guitar teacher at the Center of Musical Studies of the University of Baja California, Mexico, where he also directs the Guitar Orchestra. He also teaches at the Instituto Contemporáneo de Música de Baja California in Ensenada.

José Luis Rodríguez, native from Baja California, is a double bass player who likes to make music in a variety of styles like jazz, contemporary popular music and classical music.

He has a degree in Music with a specialty in double bass from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico. He studied with the internationally renowned double bass musician and composer Andres Martin and attended technical and interpretive improvement music courses in Italy and Switzerland with Franco Petracchi, Mirella Vedeva and Alain Raux.

As a double bassist he has collaborated with different orchestras and ensembles such as: Natalia Arroyo Ensemble, Wilfrido Terrazas Jazz Quintet, Ivan Trujillo Ensemble, The Jacky Britton's band, Trio Berimbau, Baja California Orchestra, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Symphony Orchestra, and Ensenada Chamber Orchestra.

In addition to that, he has accompanied personalities such as Andrea Bocelli, Il Divo, Nortec Collective, Los Tigres del Norte, Fernando De la Mora, Mariachi Vargas, Mariachi Sol de México, Peter Ciegleris, Silvia Navarrete, GianFranco Bortolatto, among others. He has collaborated in the premieres of works by various composers such as José Pablo Moncayo, Leo Brower, Andrés Martin, Wilfrido Terrazas, Ignacio Baca Lobera, Fabian Coronado, Fernando Lomelí, Edgar Guzmán, among others. Likewise, he participated in the recording of the film “Atardecer muriendo” by Amós Navarro and music for different composers and bands like Natalia Arroyo, John Boyle, Bucéfalo, and Ivan Trujillo.

 

José Luis is a Professor of Double Bass and Electric Bass at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, the Instituto Contemporáneo de Música de Baja California, and the Forjadores del Sauzal Orchestra.

WAE is a non-profit organization established in 2003 that seeks to bridge international understanding through cultural and citizen diplomacy in communities, colleges and schools, using the international language of the arts and citizen diplomacy.

Located at 25 E. Main Street, Frostburg, Mountain City Traditional Arts is a program of Frostburg State University and a founding member of Maryland’s Folklife Network. It receives support from the Maryland Traditions Program of the State Arts Council. For more information call 301-687-8040.