music@icantori.com







Watch this site for further details!!

El Mundo Nuevo (The New World) is I Cantori’s production for the new century. Directed by Edward Cansino, a 40 member cast performs this fully staged and costumed musical celebration of our history in the Western Hemisphere, telling the story of the arrival of the Spanish in the Mexico of the Aztecs, during the 16th Century. The play is a parable for the advent of Europeans in all parts of the New World, where similar confrontations of Native American and European cultures occurred. The issues dealt with in the play form the roots of our current society.

Authentic Aztec dance is featured in El Mundo Nuevo performed by Danza Azteca Xochipilli, directed by Adolfo Arteaga.

The 17th Century author of the play, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Sister Juana Inés of the Cross) was a gifted woman far ahead of her time in her artistic achievement, and in the recognition she received for her work during her own lifetime. She was Mexico’s first important poet and playwright.

Issues of race, religion, war, and ecology are all dealt with in the play, in a manner which is remarkably meaningful for our times. Sor Juana’s portrayal of the conquest includes a far sighted sympathy for indigenous peoples, and presents a balanced and tolerant view of the cultures and events of the conquest.

El Mundo Nuevo is supported by a grant by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

Music

In I Cantori’s production, Sor Juana’s play has been set to music of the period, from both Europe and the Americas. Our production features all aspects of Hispanic culture in addition to representation of the Native American Aztec culture. The music of the production ranges from the ethereal melodies of Gregorian Chant through elegant 17th Century baroque Spanish composition, and from mysterious pre-Columbian Aztec music through the rhythmic excitement of the hybrid Spanish/Native American composition that was the result of colonization. Original instruments of every early period are employed in the orchestra, from the pipes and drums of the Aztecs to the harps and violins of the Spanish.

I Cantori and its director Edward Cansino are particularly suited to bringing to life the recreation of this 17th Century stage play. I Cantori has been a leader for 25 years in the presentation of historical music from the Western Hemisphere.

Beginning in the 1970's, I Cantori was among the first in the world to regularly perform (in concert, over radio, and on recording) Hispanic and Native American music from the period of the conquest (15th Century forward).

Sets and Costumes The colorful sets and costumes of this fully staged spectacle are designed to portray the clash of cultures that took place in 16th Century Mexico, from the gold, feathers and stone of the Aztec to the armor, horses and galleons of the invading Spanish. The banners of the Spanish army fly amidst the pyramids of Tenochtitlan, and the spires of Catholic churches rise in the midst of battlefields: Quetzalcoatl and the Virgin of Guadalupe gaze down on an epic struggle.

Impact of the Play

In addition to being an exciting entertainment, El Mundo Nuevo will be an educational and culturally important expression for a nation where Hispanic and Native American populations are gaining an ever increasing social and political presence. The population of the State of California is now more than 50% Hispanic, and general awareness and appreciation of the Native American population of the United States has grown significantly in recent years.

The author of the play, Sor Juana, is a splendid Hispanic role model. School children will benefit greatly by contact with this remarkable New World woman. Set to music, this play is of real interest to the Hispanic community as well as to the general music and theater audience (Scholars will recognize El Mundo Nuevo as the Loa para el Auto Sacramental de El Divino Narciso).

El Mundo Nuevo is an excellent cultural experience for all in the historical roots of the Western Hemisphere.




Site Created by Dana Hursey