Antonia Apodaca, icon of New Mexican folk music, dies at 96
Even into her mid-90s, accordion legend Antonia Apodaca toured across New Mexico, serenading audiences with her sweet norteña songs.
“She was loaded with energy,” said Apodaca’s middle child, Joseph “Jose” Apodaca, whose favorite memories were touring with his mother in the final years of her life, loading her wheelchair and instruments into the back of his SUV. “It was very touching for me to see her perform and for me to be able to do that with her.”
Antonia “Toni” Apodaca, considered an icon of New Mexican folk music, died of natural causes Saturday at Albuquerque Grand Senior Style living facility. She was 96.
Born and raised in the small Northern
New Mexico village of Rociada, Apodaca entered the world with music in her blood. As a child, she watched her parents, José Damacio Martinez and Rafaelita Suazo Martinez, both musicians, sing songs rooted in New Mexico.
Apodaca first taught herself to play the accordion on a broken instrument she found in a trash can before her parents gave her more formal instruction. By the time she was 10, she was performing on stages in small villages across Northern New Mexico. At 13, she won a contest against adult accordion players at Santa Fe’s La Fonda on the Plaza, family members said.
“She was just a dynamic performer,” Jose Apodaca said. “People really loved watching her.”
Antonia Apodaca continued to write
songs and perform for more than 80 years.
After Toni met her soon-to-be husband Macario “Max” Apodaca at 18, the couple moved to Wyoming, where they lived for 30 years and raised five children. There, they performed music together, fusing traditional Hispanic polka with country Western tunes, Jose Apodaca said.
In 1979, Antonia and Max Apodaca returned to Rociada, to live in the house where Toni grew up. In 2010, the house burned down. Toni escaped the fire, saving only her two accordions and guitar.
After Max died in 1987, Apodaca took a break from performing to mourn her loss, Jose Apodaca said. Not long after, however, the musical group Bayou Seco invited her to perform alongside them, catapulting her into a national — even international — spotlight.
“They basically gave her an in,” Jose Apodaca said, noting the band introduced his mom to folk festivals across the country. In 1992, for example, she appeared at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C.
Over time, “people really got entranced by her,” Jose Apodaca said. So, in her mid-60s, she went on to form her own group, Trio Jalapeño.
Her best known song, friends and family agree, is “Estas Lindas Flores,” or “These Beautiful Flowers.” Many of her songs revolved around flowers, nature, animals and death.
“She was passionate about people who have passed on,” Jose said, “your loved ones, your ancestors.”
For her musical passion, Antonia Apodaca won many awards, including the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1992, the Premio
Hilos Culturales in 2011 and the New Mexico Music Commission’s Platinum Music Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018.
But those who knew and loved Apodaca said there was much more to her than her songwriting and performances.
Friends and family agreed the musician will also be remembered for her wit, humor and selflessness.
“She was a very loving mother,” Jose Apodaca said, recalling a time when his family was in poverty and his mom would skip meals just to be sure her children ate.
“She just cared the most about other people, lifting up other people. She loved life,” he added.
Jack Loe±er, a close friend of 40 years, agreed, noting that while “she will be missed by thousands of people who loved her music,” her impact stems more from of who she was.
“Everywhere she went, she spread joy, and that’s just about the highest calling,” he said.
About three years ago, Antonia Apodaca grew weak and was bound to a wheelchair, Jose Apodaca said. But, “she still had her arm strength to play the accordion,” he said.
Loe±er, who produced Nuestra Música performances at the Lensic Performing Arts Center for 16 years — Antonia Apodaca performed in them all — said Toni’s impressive stage presence was undeniable, especially during her final years.
“She was very much the spirit of Nuestra Música,” Loe±er said, noting audiences of more than 700 people would come to watch her perform. “She was a total hit. … People would bust in from everywhere, and one of the biggest draws was Toni Apodaca. The house was packed!”
Antonia Apodaca’s last performance was April 6, 2019, at a Nuestra Música concert, Jose Apodaca said.
In May, Apodaca went into hospice care, and she had been in and out since. A week before her death, she experienced a “dramatic decline,” said Jose Apodaca.
“She’s a legend,” he said. “Her music will live on forever. ”Antonia Apodaca is survived by her five children: Max, William, Jose and Raymond Apodaca, and Isabelle Hoenes.
Her family is planning a cremation, with services pending. There will be a memorial Mass in Las Vegas, N.M., as well as a tribute concert in March.