La Peña del SurCo

All Ages/All Welcome! Free Event! ADA Accessible

A peña is an informal Latin American folk music gathering. Peñas are found in different forms across Latin America. Peñas are more participatory than a normal concert in that usually more than one musical group performs, group singing often occurs, and frequently community members are invited to share a song informally as part of the event. By design Peñas are intended to be inclusive community events open to music lovers of all ages.

La Peña del SurCo is a cultural initiative led by ethnomusicologist and arts and health researcher Dr. Jennie Gubner and her Argentine/Chilean folk music trio El SurCo. Gubner’s current research interests involve leveraging intercultural participatory music practices to foster and strengthen age-friendly and intergenerational healthy communities. La Peña del SurCo seeks to celebrate folk music traditions from Argentina, Chile and across Latin America while building community through intimate, acoustic, and participatory musical practices. Bottles of water will be provided and Che Cafe Empanadas will be selling Argentine Empanadas! You are also welcome to bring your own drinks!

El SurCo is a musical collective that blends guitars, violin, charango, bombo, and vocal harmonies to bring to life chacareras, cuecas, chamamés, gatos, and other popular and folk stringed music traditions from Argentina, Chile, and surrounding regions. The word surco means groove in Spanish, and references the furrows where seeds are planted in agricultural fields. A musical term with a rural subtext that speaks to the landscape where many of these styles emerged and continue to thrive, El SurCo (or The Southern Collective) transport their listeners into the diverse and vibrant musical ecosystems of the Southern tip of the Americas. El SurCo is composed of Maxi Larrea (guitar, vocals, bombo), Jennie Gubner (violin, vocals, bombo), and Andres Pantoja (guitar, charango, bombo, vocals).

Maxi Larrea is a tango and folk guitarist, arranger, composer and music educator from Rosario Argentina. He has been recording, performing and touring internationally for over 20 years. In 2020 he released a solo album of tango and folklore original compositions called Donde Termina el Río/Where the River Ends, and in 2021 received a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts to publish a book of tango sheet music for guitar. In 2023 he was the recipient of a Southwest Folklife Alliance Master Artist Award.

Andres Pantoja is a versatile Chilean musician, he plays classical, flamenco and Latin American music, guitar and charango. He has played in the USA, South America, and Europe and has recorded 8 albums. He also holds a Masters and Doctoral degree in Guitar performance from the University of Arizona.

Jennie Gubner is a violinist and PhD ethnomusicologist who works at the University of Arizona as an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology and Chair of the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Applied Intercultural Arts Research. Having spent years in Buenos Aires studying and performing tango and folk music within participatory music scenes, her research and performance activities focus on promoting music as a vehicle for intergenerational wellness and community building.

Grupo Arizona is a dynamic classical and jazz fusion chamber ensemble rooted in Mexican and Latin musical traditions. The ensemble is based in Tucson, AZ, and comprises UA music students and alumni. Its mission is to elevate and expand the reach of the rich musical genres from Mexico and across Latin America. Its performances pay homage to the original artists while also serving as a creative outlet for its members to explore their musical education and creativity through unique arrangements.

This event is sponsored by The 4th Ave Coalition. The 4th Ave Coalition is a volunteer group of neighborhood folks, business owners, artists and activists dedicated to the preservation and protection of equity, diversity and accessibility of the 4th Avenue District. Their aim is to bring public art and voices to the Avenue District, promote sustainable practices and provide support for neighbors and local businesses to thrive.

This event was organized by University of Arizona Ethnomusicologist Dr. Jennie Gubner in collaboration with Sydney Streightiff and the members of El SurCo.

University of Arizona Event Sponsors Include: The Applied Intercultural Arts Research Graduate Interdisciplinary Program (AIAR GIDP) aiar.arizona.edu, The Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) https://clas.arizona.edu, Banner Health, The Southwest Center, The School of Music, and the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona.

This program is funded in part by the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona with funding from Pima County and the City of Tucson.

For more information about this event series or if you are interested in sharing a song at a peña, please contact [email protected]

Host or Publisher Dr. Jennie Gubner and Sydney Streightiff