BY KAREN BOSSICK
150 Years of Idaho Latino history will be told through song and word at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 14, at the Wood River High School Performing Arts Center in Hailey.
The free concert will cap the 11th annual CSI Summer Spanish Institute, which starts today and runs through Friday at the CSI Center in Hailey.
It will feature musician-composers Juan Manuel Barco, a member of the Tejano Music Hall of Fame from Seattle, and Bonifacio Dominguez, who hosts an American Heritage Show on a radio in Lewiston.
Joining them will be cultural activist and singer Ana Maria Schachtell, a Boisean who was born in Chihauhau, Mexico. Schachtell spearheaded the creation of the Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho in Nampa and is the project director for the Idaho Corrido Music Project sponsored primarily by the Idaho Humanities Council.
Augmenting the three is Norma Pintar, a Mexican-born woman who has served as the folk dance artistic director for five years at the Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho. She was awarded the Idaho Governor’s Award for Excellence in Folk Arts in 2012.
Together, they will describe the traditional Mexican corrido or ballad and how that particular art form is the perfect tool to celebrate the history of the Latinos in Idaho. They will also perform some of the stories and ballads included in the book “Nuestros Corridos: 150 Years of Latino History through Song & Word—1863 to 2013.”
The evening is a highlight of the Summer Spanish Institute, a dynamic week-long language immersion program for adults. The unique program provides a chance for people to immerse themselves in speaking Spanish, while enjoying cultural workshops involving cooking, yoga, literature and films.
Call 208-788-2033 for more information.