Houston audiences will have a rare opportunity to experience the power of the Mexican corrido tradition when GRAMMY- and Latin GRAMMY-nominated artist Juan Díes presents two free events at MECA Downtown at the end of January.
On Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m., Díes will lead Stories and Corridos, an evening of music and storytelling performed in both Spanish and English. The program will feature classic corridos alongside newly composed songs that recount real-life Mexican and American tragic heroes. Known for blending scholarship with performance, Díes draws on more than 35 years of experience as a folklorist, ethnomusicologist, performer, and educator to bring these historical ballads to life.
Díes is a co-founder of the Chicago-based Sones de México Ensemble, which has earned both GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominations for its dedication to preserving and innovating traditional Mexican music. The evening is supported in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and MECA-Houston.
The experience continues on Friday, Jan. 31 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with an intensive, hands-on Mexican Tragic Ballad Songwriting Workshop. During the five-hour session, participants will explore the 180-year-old corrido tradition, learning its history, structure, and poetic rules. By the end of the workshop, the group will collaboratively write an original song following the traditional tragic corrido form.
Both events take place at MECA DOW, 1900 Kane St., Houston, TX 77007, and are free to attend. Registration is required for the workshop.