The North Shore Music Association (NSMA) will present Sone de México Ensemble’s “Beyond the Music: A Musical Geography of Mexico” on Friday, December 10, at 7 pm via Zoom. The program is free of charge to the public and is family friendly. 

The 60-minute English-language lecture/demo with the theme “Beyond the Music: A Musical Geography of Mexico” features a slide show, videos, and a lecture by two-time GRAMMY-Award-nominated ethnomusicologist Juan Díes and members of the Sones de México Ensemble. The event is sponsored in part by a grant to Sones de México by the National Endowment for the Arts. To access this program, please visit https://sones.fun/geo at 7 pm on December 10. 

Sones de México Ensemble is North America’s premier folk music organization, specializing in Mexican son, including the regional styles of huapango, gustos, chilenas, and son jarocho. The group was formed in Chicago 25 years ago to keep the tradition of Mexican son alive in its many regional forms. Since then, the ensemble has developed and popularized many original arrangements of Mexican traditional tunes and has toured nationally and internationally, including performances at the Getty Museum, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. 

In March 2019, NSMA hosted Sones de México in concert at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts, as well as a 2-day educational residency at Great Expectations School, and an all-ages Mexican folk music and dance class at the Art Colony.  

This month, in addition to presenting the program for the public on December 10, Juan Díes of Sones de México will work with Cook County High School Spanish 2 and 3 students, leading interactive Spanish-language conversations on the topic of “La Geografía Musical de México.” These educational sessions, hosted by NSMA, are made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to legislative appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature’s General Fund and the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

To learn more about Sones de México, visit https://sonesdemexico.com/.