Music in the Old Missions of California

To mark the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America, the Instituto Cervantes in Los Angeles, in collaboration with Misiones de California, is organizing a concert series to highlight the architectural and musical heritage of New Spain associated with the California Mission Road in the 18th and early 19th centuries. From a musical perspective, the public will be treated to a selection of pieces that were composed or performed in these missions. Music from two worlds that incorporated the indigenous traditions of the communities living in the mission-centered regions throughout the Americas, including those of the missions themselves in what was then known as Alta California. An extraordinary musical synthesis, a testament to a musical richness that united two continents through round-trip journeys, celebrating the deep cultural intertwining of what is now the United States with the diversity of traditions, customs, and ways of life that were and are expressed today in Spanish within this very country.