The 13th NY Son Jarocho Festival, featuring Ik'Balam
Nov 11, 2023
In-Person Tickets:
$15 general admission/$12 members
Flushing Town Hall no longer requires visitors or performers to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19; wearing a mask is optional but recommended. For more details, please visit www.flushingtownhall.org/covid-safety
The 13th Annual NY Son Jarocho Festival will conclude a week-long celebration of Son Jarocho, the music, dance, and culture of Veracruz, Mexico. A full day of performances, the NY Son Jarocho Festival will feature East Coast Son Jarocho groups and will be headlined by Mexico-based ensemble Ik'Balam. The Festival is a co-presentation by Flushing Town Hall and the Son Jarocho NY Collective.
Ik'Balam will perform his own compositions, which fuse the traditional Son Jarocho from Veracruz, Mexico, and various jazz styles. You can get a taste of what's to come through this recording below!
Born in Tlalnelhuayocan, Veracruz, Ik’Balam began his musical career at 13 playing requinto--the lead melodic instrument of the Son Jarocho tradition. A pioneer in the academic learning of this musical style, he was the first person in Mexico to obtain Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in requinto performance. Ik’Balam was also the first to publish academic work on the musical elements of Son Jarocho and their links to jazz. The musical work of Ik’Balam has been recorded in the 2017 EP “Ilusiones”, in which he features a trio of the electric requinto jarocho, cajon percussion set, and fretless bass; the 2019 LP “Erosión de la memoria,” which presented, for the very first-time, son jarocho instruments playing jazz, with the sounds of the jarana, leona, and the electric requinto jarocho evocatively blending together; and the 2021 LP “Tiempo imaginario,” featuring a quintet with soprano saxophone, Mexican percussion, electric requinto jarocho, jarana, and leona. For the 13th NY Son Jarocho Festival Ik’Balam will be accompanied by Helio Martín del Campo on jarana and Juan Galván on leona, with guest musicians from the New York Latin jazz scene.
This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall, and is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts. The free programs of the NY Son Jarocho Festival are proudly sponsored by the CUNY Mexican Studies Institute and Son Jarocho NY.
In-Person Tickets:
$15 general admission/$12 members
Flushing Town Hall no longer requires visitors or performers to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19; wearing a mask is optional but recommended. For more details, please visit www.flushingtownhall.org/covid-safety
The 13th Annual NY Son Jarocho Festival will conclude a week-long celebration of Son Jarocho, the music, dance, and culture of Veracruz, Mexico. A full day of performances, the NY Son Jarocho Festival will feature East Coast Son Jarocho groups and will be headlined by Mexico-based ensemble Ik'Balam. The Festival is a co-presentation by Flushing Town Hall and the Son Jarocho NY Collective.
Ik'Balam will perform his own compositions, which fuse the traditional Son Jarocho from Veracruz, Mexico, and various jazz styles. You can get a taste of what's to come through this recording below!
Born in Tlalnelhuayocan, Veracruz, Ik’Balam began his musical career at 13 playing requinto--the lead melodic instrument of the Son Jarocho tradition. A pioneer in the academic learning of this musical style, he was the first person in Mexico to obtain Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in requinto performance. Ik’Balam was also the first to publish academic work on the musical elements of Son Jarocho and their links to jazz. The musical work of Ik’Balam has been recorded in the 2017 EP “Ilusiones”, in which he features a trio of the electric requinto jarocho, cajon percussion set, and fretless bass; the 2019 LP “Erosión de la memoria,” which presented, for the very first-time, son jarocho instruments playing jazz, with the sounds of the jarana, leona, and the electric requinto jarocho evocatively blending together; and the 2021 LP “Tiempo imaginario,” featuring a quintet with soprano saxophone, Mexican percussion, electric requinto jarocho, jarana, and leona. For the 13th NY Son Jarocho Festival Ik’Balam will be accompanied by Helio Martín del Campo on jarana and Juan Galván on leona, with guest musicians from the New York Latin jazz scene.
This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall, and is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts. The free programs of the NY Son Jarocho Festival are proudly sponsored by the CUNY Mexican Studies Institute and Son Jarocho NY.
