New Mexico music concert to air
The folk music of El Rio Grande del Norte has often been called ‘la música de los viejitos.” New Mexico resident Jack Loeffler used to have a radio show of the same name.
Loeffler and the dozens of New Mexico singers have cultivated and ensured the songs will last.
This is the reason Loeffler hosts the Nuestra Música Celebración concert at the Lensic Performing Arts Center each year.
The concert features more than a dozen performers, and the lineup reads like a who’s who of New Mexico musicians: Roberto Mondragon, Glenn Holmes, David Sena, Mel Gallegos, Ernesto Holmes, Robel (Chacho) Taylor, Frank McCulloch, Melody Mock, Luis Campos, Cipriano y La Familia Vigil, David Garcia, Brenda Romero, Consuelo Luz, Bernie Jaramillo, David Garcia and Antonia Apodaca.
“We started producing these for the Lensic in 2001,” Loeffler says. “These are the artists that are inspiring new generations of musicians.”
Each year, the Lensic concert sells out quickly and New Mexico PBS stepped in earlier this year to record it.
It will air at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24 on KNME-TV, Channel 5.
“Part of our mission is to serve our community,” says Michael Kamins, executive producer of KNME. “This music is just right at the heart of our culture. It’s exciting to be at the concert and show how Hispano folk music is loved in the community.”
Kamins says there were five cameras filming the concert — four covering each performance and one roaming through the audience.
“Before the concert, I sat with Antonia Apodaca in her green room,” he says. “She was knocking out a song with her band. She gave me a private rendition of her ‘chile song.’ She’s a New Mexico treasure.”
Loeffler hopes to keep the music series going because it’s a vital part of the community.
“This type of art has to be preserved,” he says. “Antonia (Apodaca) is 93 now, and Frank (McCulloch) just turned 86. They have been the keepers of the music and are passing it down. It’s important for us to pay attention to it because it’s a huge part of our culture.”