Classical KC | By Libby Hanssen, Sam Wisman, Genevieve Des Marteau Published September 4, 2024 at 1:55 PM CDT
Members of Voces Festivas perform
National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated September 15 through October 15, but in Kansas City, there are opportunities to honor and enjoy this heritage through music all year long.
This story was first published in Classical KC's "Take Note" newsletter.
Kansas City has a rich Hispanic and Latin American culture, dating back to the 1800s. Through the centuries, immigrants brought their traditions to the region and subsequent generations fostered that heritage. (Learn about Topeka, Kansas’ Mariachi Estrella with KCUR’s A People’s History of Kansas City.)
Many classical music composers have found inspiration and influence from popular and folkloric traditions and contemporary musicians combine those practices as well.
“Folkloric traditions and classical music share deep connections rooted in cultural expression, historical development, and musical structure,” said guitarist Beau Bledsoe, founder of Ensemble Ibérica. “Folkloric music often reflects the cultural identity and stories of a community, serving as a foundation for many classical compositions.”
Classical KC frequently highlights music of Mexico, Central and South Americas, as well as Hispanic and Latino American artists, like Colombian violist Victor Díaz and violinist José Ramírez and conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, who led the Mineria Symphony Orchestra of Mexico City in their first ever United States tour, and community members like Leo Prieto, advisor to the Consulate of Mexico in Kansas City.
As you celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, we invite you to stream Classical KC weekly to hear “Concierto” at 2:00 on Sunday afternoons, with host Frank Domínguez, America’s first nationally distributed bilingual (Spanish-English) classical music program.
Learn about some of the artists and organizations celebrating Hispanic and Latin American music this month and throughout the year.
Voces Festivas, a Spanish-language choir, kicks off rehearsals for its 4th season in the Kansas City community on Sept. 4. This no-audition ensemble is part of The Choral Foundaion’s cast of choirs and open collaborates with other groups, like the Summer Singers of Lee’s Summit, which performed Ariel Rameríz’ “Misa Criolla” this past summer. The group is conducted by Leilani Velasco Vaughn, who is Mexican-American and grew up hearing her family’s choir, Coro Santa Cecilia.
“[Voces Festivas’] mission is to share Spanish choral music with anyone both in learning and in performing,” she told Classical KC. “The doors are always open for anyone who would like to join.” They will perform at the Johnson County Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration on Wednesday, October 2 at the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center.
Soprano Victoria Botero has performed with the group as a soloist, as well as Ensemble Ibérica, the Kansas City Symphony, William Baker Festival Singers, Kansas City Wind Symphony and others, along with performing and producing her own concepts for The Cecilia Series, such as her well-received project “Gabo: A Love Letter,” inspired by famed Spanish-language novelist Gabriel García Márquez. Her parents, born and raised in Colombia, immigrated to the United States as young adults, so Botero’s childhood was infused with a mix of Latin American popular music and the likes of Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. During her undergraduate program, Botero stumbled on the music of Colombian composer Jaime León, whom she researched and then interviewed for her master’s thesis at UMKC Conservatory.
“I learned so much about my own heritage through his music, his use of South American poets, and harmonic language. He had such a beautiful point of view with songs that evoked Colombian folk tunes with really sophisticated harmonies that ached with emoon and remind me of Strauss,” she said. Hear Botero discuss her heritage, inspirations, and selection of songs with Classical KC International ties.
Perhaps the local organization with the widest global vision is Ensemble Ibérica, a cohort of international musicians. The group was founded by Kansas City-based guitarist Beau Bledsoe, who not only taps local talent but collaborates with a range of national and international musicians, celebrating the traditions and styles of Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, and other Latin American countries. While studying classical music at UMKC Conservatory, Bledsoe formed friendships with Hispanic musicians, traveled to Mexico, and studied traditional Mexican music. With his friend Hector Aquirre, he performed in restaurants along Southwest Boulevard in the traditionally Hispanic Westside neighborhood. “While I was pursuing my master’s degree in classical guitar performance at the Conservatory, Southwest Boulevard became a second college to me,” he said. Collaboration is the keystone of Ensemble Ibérica’s presentations, and Bledsoe invites artists from all over the world to share their insights, histories, and musicality with local audiences. Frequent local collaborators include Bolivian multi-instrumentalist Amado Espinoza, Mexican vocalist Fedra Cooper, Barrera, and Brazilian vocalist Bruno Bessa.
In 2023, the ensemble presented Music of the Americas at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, invited by presenter Nilko Andreas, a Colombian guitarist based in New York. Andreas comes back to Kansas City this month for “Sur,” a program of South American music and will be joined by another friend of the group, Bolivian vocalist Gian-Carla Tisera. Ensemble Ibérica will also perform for a showing of “Epoca de Oro (The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema) at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on Sept. 28, then travels to Turkey in October and Bolivia in November before returning home for the program Sin Fronterias (Without Borders), a collaboration with Grammy Award-winners Mireya Ramos and Los Texmaniacs, and Slim Hanson and the Poor Choices at Musical Theatre Heritage on Dec. 28.
Additional events Fiesta Hispana, various performers, American Royal facilities, Sept. 13-15, 2024. Malevo, an all-male group specializing in Malambo, a traditional Argenne folk dance. Midwest Trust Center, Sept. 26, 2024.
Sonia de los Santos, singer and guitarist with “A Celebraon of Lan America,” Midwest Trust Center, Oct. 25 and Oct. 26, 2025.
Mariachi Herencia de Mexíco, a Chicago-based, Grammy Award-nominated mariachi ensemble, MidwestTrust Center, Oct. 26, 2024.
Disney’s Encanto Sing-Along Live Concert, watch the film with live music, presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series, Folly Theater, Nov. 1, 2024.
Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernádez, presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 23, 2025.
Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, the first mariachi opera ever writien, presented by Lyric Opera of Kansas City,Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, March 7-9, 2025.