PRESS RELEASE
February 20, 2006
For immediate release
Support from Castellano Family Foundation
Brings FREE Film Screening
AND Mariachi Concert
with Los Cenzontles to CSMA on Sunday, March
12
(Mountain View, CA) On Sunday, March 12th, 2-5:30 pm,
the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) at Finn Center will
host an afternoon
of cultural enrichment featuring a film screening of the award-winning,
bi-lingual documentary Pasajero: Un Viaje por el Tiempo y
la Memoria (“A Journey of Time and Memory”)
followed by a mariachi concert with Los Cenzontles (“The
Mockingbirds”).
With generous support from the Castellano Family Foundation,
admission (on a space-available basis) to this special cultural
event will be made available to the public for free.
The afternoon
will also include an audience Q&A led by Perla
Rodriguez, Univision KDTV-14 and TeleFutura 66 Public Affairs
Manager and Executive Producer of Encuentro en la Bahia,
the Bay Area’s only local Spanish TV program highlighting
events, organizations and other causes serving the local Hispanic
community. Univision 14 and TeleFutura 66, along with the Mountain View
Voice and Los Altos Town Crier, are media sponsors
for this special cultural event. The afternoon will conclude
with a reception
featuring “a taste of Mexico” at which guests will
be able to meet and talk with the artists who appear in the film
and will be performing in the concert. “We are pleased to share with the community an opportunity
to experience the rich musical heritage of Mexico,” said
Carmen Castellano, President of the Castellano Family Foundation. “In
Silicon Valley, where there is such a large Spanish-speaking
population, we feel that the arts are one of the best ways to
help others understand and appreciate Latino culture and history.”
Pasajero: Un Viaje por el Tiempo y la Memoria (“A Journey
of Time and Memory”) relates the story of a group of young
Mexican-American musicians from Los Cenzontles (“The Mockingbirds”)
who accompany their mariachi maestro, Julian
Gonzalez, on his
homecoming to Jalisco, Mexico. Together they perform a forgotten
style of music and dance and meet people who embody the spirit
of old Mexico. For the young people, their journey is a heartfelt,
musical odyssey that helps them to reclaim their heritage, define
their identity, and share with others in the U.S. and Mexico
the rich legacy of these cultural arts.
The mariachi concert with Los Cenzontles, which will immediately
follow the film screening, will feature the young singers, instrumentalists
and dancers whose story is told in the documentary, as well as
their mariachi maestro Julian Gonzalez. Los Cenzontles
is a 6-12 member multi-generational ensemble dedicated to preserving
and
performing music and dance of rare rural folk traditions. The
group, which has recorded 15 compact discs, has toured extensively
throughout the U.S. and Mexico.
The film Pasajero, which
especially speaks to teens as well as adults, is the first in
a series of three documentaries produced
by the Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center (LCMAC) as part of
the “Cultures of Mexico in California Project.” The
project is funded by the James Irvine Foundation and the U.S.
Mexico Fund for Culture, with distribution to PBS by Latino Public
Broadcasting. Located in San Pablo and founded in 1994 by Eugene
Rodriguez, LCMAC engages Mexican-American youth in the East Bay
in the joyous appreciation and study of music and dance.
“ We are immensely grateful to the Castellano Family Foundation
for their generous support of this event,” said Angela
McConnell, CSMA Executive Director. “As part of our mission
of Arts for All, we are committed to providing multi-cultural
programs that are accessible to everyone in the community.”
The Castellano Family Foundation, created in 2001 by Carmen
and her husband Alcario, is dedicated to the cultivation and
enrichment of Latino family values through support of organizations,
primarily in the Santa Clara County community, promoting the
arts, Latino culture, Latino leadership, the educational pursuits
of Latino students, and special interests of the Trustees. Armando
Castellano, a music educator and Carmen and Alcario’s son,
is a member of the Board of Directors at the Community School
of Music and Arts and chair of CSMA’s Program Committee.
The Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) at Finn Center is
a regional center for arts education committed to providing Arts
for All!, regardless of age, level, background or economic
means. Since its founding in 1968, CSMA has grown to be the largest
non-profit provider of arts education programs in Santa Clara
and San Mateo Counties, reaching 30,000+ people annually through
classes, lessons, camps, arts-in-the-schools programs, concerts,
lectures, exhibitions, and multi-cultural, community outreach
events. The school offers financial aid to ensure the accessibility
of arts to all. In January 2004, CSMA opened it first permanent
home at Finn Center, a 25,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility.
CSMA
at Finn Center is located at 230 San Antonio Circle
in Mountain View. CSMA is committed to providing high-quality
cultural
experiences for audiences of all ages. To ensure the best experience
for all guests, children should be able to sit quietly throughout
the bi-lingual documentary film, concert and audience Q&A.
The film begins at 2 pm in CSMA’s Tateuchi Hall, with the
event concluding at approximately 5:30 pm. Limited, open seating
(approximately 200) is offered with tickets given out at the
door on a first-come, first-served basis one hour prior to the
event. Tickets include admission to the full afternoon of events
(film, concert, audience Q&A, reception). No reservations
or advance tickets are available. Limited on-site and street
parking is available. For additional information about the film
and artists, see www.loscenzontles.com. For information about
the March 12 event at the Community School of Music and Arts
(CSMA) at Finn Center, see www.arts4all.org or contact Box Office
Manager Daniel Marshall at 650-917-6800, ext 335; dmarshall@arts4all.org.
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