Flyers: New England Concurso de Trovadores, 2003
Date2003
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.90.6a-b
DescriptionFlyers for New England Concurso de Trovadores, 2003.
NotesSubject Note: The Institute for Community Research’s Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program and the Puerto Rican traditional music group Amor y Cultura produced a day-long Concurso de Trovadores (troubador folk singers) competition and concert, with master musicians from Puerto Rico and local singers. The event took place at St. Anne’s Church Hall, 820 Park Street, Hartford on September 27, 2003. The competition ran from 2pm-7pm, followed by a concert of competition winners and master musicians from 8pm-10pm. The event was free and open to the public. The goal of the project was to enhance appreciation for Puerto Rican traditional arts both within the community and for general area audiences as well. The performance of this beautiful and highly skilled music can show Puerto Rican arts at their best, as an expression of the love Puerto Ricans have for their island and culture. A committee of local Puerto Rican artists and cultural leaders advised in the project’s planning and production. The event revived a beloved activity in Hartford’s Puerto Rican community. Started by master cuatrista and community music educator Virgilio Cruz, the Concursos held in the early 1990s brought traditional Puerto Rican singers to Hartford from all over the Tri-State area and New England. Virgilio Cruz returned to Hartford as a judge for the 2003 competition, along with famous and experienced trovador Mariano Cotto, and Hartford lawyer and traditional music aficionado Richard Zayas.
As in the traditional Concurso, trovadores competed by improvising a décima, a form of folk poetry, with live traditional music accompaniment provided by Amor y Cultura. Following the competition, the master musicians Mariano Cotto (from Comerio, a city from which many of Hartford’s residents originate) and Virgilio Cruz gave a concert of traditional folkloric music, accompanied by Amor y Cultura. The winning trovadores also performed. The competition attracted participants from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, bringing new audiences to Park Street, a vibrant neighborhood which is a Puerto Rican cultural heartland for all of New England. Amor y Cultura, one of the most popular groups working in this genre in Connecticut, has a mission to preserve and perform the folk music of Puerto Rico, carrying on the traditions of the island’s music that have been transplanted to neighborhoods on the mainland. The event was funded in part by the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund and the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s United Arts Campaign.
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for this event and these artists.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
2002-2010
1999-2000