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IN PERSON ONLY
Come and enjoy the exciting folk music of Veracruz, Mexico performed by Santa Paula Native John Robles and Chucumite for the occasion of Mexican Independence Day. Special Guest Ventura County Poet Laureate Luz Maria Espinosa will be deliver two poems in honor of the occasion.

Ven y disfruta de la emocionante música folclórica de Veracruz, México interpretada por el nativo de Santa Paula John Robles y Chucumite
Ticket reservations from the link on this page or by calling the church office at 805-525-4620

Chucumite is a quartet of musicians who play ‘son jarocho’, the folk music of the southern portion of the Mexican state of Veracruz, on the Gulf coast of Mexico. Chucumite is comprised of John Robles, who plays ‘arpa jarocha’, or Veracruz folk harp; Robert Perales, who plays ‘jarana jarocha’; Sean Hutchinson, who plays ‘leona’, a large, 4 stringed instrument plucked with a plectrum of cowhorn. Robles and Perales have been performing together for over twenty-five years, and are described by folklorist and son jarocho scholar Rafael Figueroa Hernandez as “exponents of son jarocho for many years, who as good creative musicians belong to the jarocho tradition but whose music, at the same time, has been influenced by that which is happening around it”. Hutchinson joined the group in 2009.

There has been a change in the special guest fourth musician for the Chucumite concert this Saturday: Tomás Herrera is part of a family of renowned Ventura County musicians who specialize in son jarocho, the folk music of southern Veracruz, Mexico. His older brother Fermin Herrera, a retired professor of the indigenous Nahuatl language of Mexico at California State University Northridge, became enamored of son jarocho and learned to play the arpa jarocha. With his siblings, Andrés, Jorge, Tomás and Maria Isabél (Chabela), Fermín formed Conjunto Jarocho Hueyapan, when Tomás was still a teenager in school. Hueyapan has carried son jarocho to such stages as the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion many other prestigious venues.

Tomás performs on the requinto jarocho, a guitar-type instrument carved from a single block of cedar, which is hollowed out and has a separate soundboard and fingerboard applied. It is a melodic and percussive instrument and is traditionally played with a plectrum of cow horn, but nowadays modern plastics such as Delrin are often used. Tomás received his early training from master musicians in Mexico, most notably Don Lino Chavez Zamudio, legendary requintero who virtually single-handedly defined the way the requinto is played in modern times and who founded el Conjunto Jarocho Medellín de Lino Chavez, which was and is among the most famous son jarocho ensembles ever. Tomás Herrera is part of an impressive musical lineage, and he is passing his art and culture onward as a teacher of requinto jarocho.

Also: special guest Luzmaria Espinosa will share two poems as part of this event.

Adults, $25; children under 12, $12. There will be some pro bono tickets available for this concert by reservation with Rev. Maddie Sifantus at 805-525-4620.
Funded in part with a grant from the Ventura County 150th Anniversary
NOTE: If this concert sells out, it will be available on Zoom.