Traditional Mexican music trio to perform in southern Illinois

CARBONDALE, Ill. (HEARTLAND WEEKEND) - On Saturday, July 29, Southern Illinois Culture and Arts in Bilingual Education will host a free community concert at the Town Square Pavilion in Carbondale, Illinois.

Los Condenados Huastecos trio, led by award-winning fiddler Juan Rivera, will take the stage at 6 p.m., as part of the Latin Summer Nights traditional music series.

Rivera comes from a long tradition of Mexican folk music called son huasteco, which he and the others have played all over the world in places like University of Chicago Folk Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Institute and Carnegie Hall.

Son huasteco hails from the Huasteca, one of Mexico’s most celebrated cultural regions, characterized by the historical blending of diverse cultures, including Spanish, indigenous and African. The genre is marked by florid poetry, soaring high falsetto vocals, and ornate and elaborate, riveting violin improvisation.

Huapangos, gusto, and sones huastecos are played on a guitarra quinta huapanguera, an eight-string guitar-like instrument; a jarana huasteca, a stringed instrument related to the jarana; and a violin.

The trio is also scheduled to play Sunday, July 30, at Alto Winery in Alto Pass from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.