University of Houston: Joint Symposium to Enhance Access to Mexican Wind Works
For three days, starting Thursday, May 18, the Hopkins Center for the Arts (the Hop) at Dartmouth and the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston will convene musicians, performers and scholars to explore the past and future of Mexican music and its representation in wind band literature and educational settings. The second Music Mexico Symposium is part of Dartmouth’s ongoing Mexican Repertoire Initiative, led by Dartmouth Director of Bands Brian Messier, to enhance access to and appreciation for Mexican artists, who are actively innovating and contributing to the evolution of wind music.
The initiative was first seeded by Messier launching the 2020 Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble Composition Competition, which aimed to encourage new works by composers living in Mexico and the United States. Since then, the initiative has grown to include the Mexican Repertoire Collection, an open source, searchable, sortable database of authentic Mexican repertoire, the Mexican Composer Incubation Coalition, which offers composers from Mexico and other Latin American countries a year-long course to learn how to write for US-style wind bands. In March 2023, the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble went on their first tour of Mexico City. Led by Messier, the ensemble advanced the initiative’s goals by performing new and original Mexican works alongside local ensembles Banda Sinfónica FaM UNAM and CECAMBA. They finished the tour strong with a sold-out performance at Sala Nezahualcoyotl.
“Curiosity made me question what I knew about Mexico and, in particular, Mexican music,” says Messier. “I quickly learned that there was a void of music for Wind Band by Mexican composers, a reality that did not align with the rich musical history and culture of the nation. Here we are three years later, bringing people together from across the U.S. and Mexico to have deepening conversations about the state of music in Mexico and how it is represented in the United States and beyond, and to enjoy original Mexican works by talented young composers.”
This year as the Hop building undergoes a large-scale transformation, the symposium takes place at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music. “We are thrilled to host the second symposium,” says Associate Professor of Music Education Cory Meals. “Weaving together the threads of Dartmouth’s outstanding Mexican Repertoire Initiative, the University of Houston’s rich history of wind band performance and pedagogy, the thriving community of University of Houston’s Mariachi Pumas, and the dynamic and vibrant traditions of Oaxacan Philharmonic bands into a cohesive event where music educators, composers, conductors, scholars and musicians can perform, interact, and learn speaks to the amazing potential for this event and the depth offered by the many musics of Mexico.”
More about the Symposium
The event will combine live concerts featuring exciting works by Mexican composers—such as Juan Pablo Contreras, Nubia Jaime Donjuan and Natalia Quintanilla—by a number of ensembles including the Dartmouth College Clarinet Choir, the University of Houston Wind Ensemble and the University of Texas – El Paso Chamber Ensemble, among others. The panel discussions and immersive workshops feature prominent experts in the field of Mexican culture, music and wind band repertoire. Symposium registration includes tickets to attend the full schedule of events in person.