Fiesta is devoted to Latino concert music and presents artistically significant compositions from Latin America, Spain and Portugal to listeners. The creative force behind this series is Elbio Barilari, an acclaimed composer, musician, performer and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The Uruguayan-born Barilari says, "Fiesta features the hottest Latin-American music from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries."
Baroque Music from the Spanish and Portuguese Empires: Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba were three important areas in the colonial empire of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns. European musicians came to compose and to teach music while living in these colonies. This created a new generation of American composers who wrote music for religious services and the courts of the viceroys and governors. Fiesta presents a selection of music from the Spanish and Portuguese empires.
Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead): Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, has inspired music in the Latin American culture throughout history. Often confused with Halloween in America, the Day of the Dead is about honoring and paying tribute to one’s ancestors. On this episode of Fiesta, we will explore music that celebrates the many facets of this holiday.