Grupo Condor offers history of Latin folk instruments, music

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, February 4, 2004

Clatsop Community College’s Arts & Ideas Program presents Grupo Condor with a one-day residency Saturday, Feb. 7, designed for anyone interested in history, music and Latin culture.

The day’s events begin at 1 p.m. with an instrument demonstration, “Musica Etnica Viva,” in which Grupo Condor members describe the instruments and the history of pre- and post-Columbian music of Latin America. The group will demonstrate clay flutes with up to four chambers, turtle shells, charango, zamponas (pan flutes) and water drums, and will discuss how some instruments were changed because of the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. Workshop participants will be given the opportunity to try instruments and ask questions.

At 2:15 p.m., the group performs “Somos la musica,” music with discussion of the history of Latin music and individual instruments, focusing on the creation of Latin folk music by Spanish, African and Native American cultures.

A 7 p.m. concert features a high-energy journey on unique and inspiring instruments. “Pasaje Por Latino America” (“Passage through the Americas”) includes stories about the origins and influences of the music, played on several different instruments.

Grupo Condor, comprised of Samuel Becerra, Luis Opazo and Gerardo Calderon, is a touring folk music ensemble that performs traditional music from all of Latin America. Their concerts and school programs focus on the blend of European, African and Native American influences that are the roots of the multicultural music style.

Saturday’s residency is cosponsored with the Clatsop County Hispanic Council. Cost to attend the afternoon workshops is $3 to $7. Tickets to the evening concert are $5 to $10. All events take place at the Performing Arts Center, 16th Street and Franklin Avenue. For tickets, call (503) 338-2473.