Raphael Jimenez, associate director of MSU orchestras. Photo by Kevin Epling

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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Michigan State University's Julian Samora Research Institute, MSU's Graduate Brass Quintet will team up with nationally renowned, Grammy-nominated Chicago folk group Sones de México for a free public concert.

The Nov. 5 concert will begin at 8 p.m. in the Music Building Auditorium. A free public discussion will be held in Hart Recital Hall, Music Building, earlier in the day at 1:30 p.m. Panel members will include Sones de México Musical Director Victor Pichardo and Ricardo Lorenz, associate professor of composition for MSU, who will discuss the potential of music to serve as an interface space devoid of racial, social and cultural barriers.

The two groups will be conducted by Raphael Jimenez, associate director of MSU Orchestras. 

"Composer Ricardo Lorenz has provided us with a unique opportunity for classical musicians. Our classically trained students will experience, ‘hands on,' the rhythm, energy and excitement of Mexican traditional music by performing with this wonderful folk group," Jimenez said. "The combination of a brass quintet with a Mexican band is a crossover experiment that opens up multiple doors for cultural exchange and understanding."

The performance will feature music arranged by Lorenz as a continuation and extension of the collaborative project Armonía. The Armonía project, which originated in Chicago as a musician's residency program sponsored by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1998, was aimed at utilizing music as a medium to build relationships with various Chicago communities. 

Sones de México was one of the groups that participated in the Armonía project. The group's visit to MSU is only the second time the Armonía project has reached out to communities beyond the Chicago area.

As the composer-in-residency for Armonía, Lorenz arranged and conducted a multitude of works that called for collaboration between CSO musicians and Chicago Latino bands.

 "The Armonía Ensemble Project allows MSU students and the community at large to experience and reflect upon the role of music in dissolving social, racial and national boundaries," Lorenz said. "It is particularly interesting for our music students to experience how imaginative major orchestras in the country like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (and other nonprofits) get when faced with having to make their role relevant to the communities they serve."

Following MSU's performance, the Graduate Brass Quintet and Sones de México will host a concert and workshop in Southwest Detroit's Mexican Town in collaboration with the Center of Music and Performing Arts Southwest on Nov. 6. The workshop will be held at 4 p.m. at COMPAS, 8701 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit, and the concert is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at St. Gabriel Church, 8118 W. Vernor Hwy. Admission for the concert is $10 and will be used for a music scholarship.

Founded in 1989, MSU's JSRI is a public policy research center that serves Latino communities in the Midwest. For more information about JSRI, visit http://www.jsri.msu.edu/.

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