By Amanda A. Taylor-Uchoa

EDINBURG, TEXAS – The UTRGV Center for Latin American Arts (CLAA) will showcase “A la Música 2023,” four flamenco concerts featuring Daniel Caballero and Nerea Carrasco from Madrid, Spain, with musicians José Cortés, Francisco J. Orozco and José Manuel Alconchel performing with the UTRGV Ballet Español students.

The concerts are organized and co-directed with Sonia Chapa Gomez, artistic director of the Ballet Español student company in the UTRGV Dance Department, and Dr. Katherine Moore McAllen, director of the Center for Latin American Arts and associate professor of Art History in the UTRGV College of Fine Arts.

Concerts will be held at 10 a.m. on Feb. 13 and 10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14, at the UTRGV Performing Arts Center in Edinburg.

The event also includes dance workshops and a master class for UTRGV Dance Department students and K-12 students in the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District and La Joya Independent School District, to allow the community to benefit from the educational opportunities of this concert series at UTRGV.

The live performances, with choreography and musical compositions by Daniel Caballero, will present flamenco dancers accompanied by singers and the music of Spanish guitar and percussion. “A la Música” will be a sensorial, visual and auditory experience that expresses an intercultural exchange between artists from Spain and all who attend. 

“This fantastic concert embodies the vision of the CLAA to connect our students and faculty with internationally acclaimed performers, musicians and artists, so all can enjoy unique learning opportunities and enjoyment of the arts,” McAllen said. 

“This concert series also serves our community with workshops for K-12 schools and is working to build lasting relationships between UTRGV and art institutions in Spain and Latin America that benefit our students in the College of Fine Arts.”

Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for children. VIP tickets, which include a pre-concert refreshment, are $17.50. VIP tickets for couples are $35 and include two tickets and two pre-concert refreshments.

The concert is funded by grants awarded to the CLAA totaling $100,000, from the Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, Rea Charitable Trust, the Raul Tijerina Jr. Foundation, and the Brown Foundation.

Other UTRGV projects supported by these CLAA grants include funds for UTRGV Ballet Español students to travel to Spain in summer 2023 to continue their flamenco dance training with Sonia Chapa; art field trips and exhibitions in collaboration with Romeo Di Loreto in the School of Art & Design; modern band workshops with Dr. Virginia Davis in the School of Music; costume support for Miguel Peña in the Department of Dance; art workshops with Rigoberto Gonzalez in the School of Art & Design; and a visiting music scholars speaker series with Dr. Andrés Amado and Dr. Teresita Lozano in the School of Music.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call the UTRGV Arts Box Office at 956-665-3881 or 956-882-7025, or visit the utrgv.edu/claa website or utrgv.edu/arts.