Rachel, tell me about the Britt’s initial motivation behind forming this committee, when you established it, and then your outreach process to leaders in our Spanish-speaking community.
Rachel Jones: Sure. So I think Britt has always strived to — when we do our programming, we always like to say, “There's a little something for everybody.” We program blues, we program pop, we program country, reggae — all sorts of music. And in reflecting on it, we realized we really aren't serving a segment of our community that's here locally. It's the second largest demographic in our community, the Latinx community, and we thought, “It's important to have everyone reflected on our stage.”
So we really wanted to start to build that process, and we felt like the best way to do that would be to get input from people from that community themselves. So we decided to form an advisory committee, and I had the good fortune in my prior role at Southern Oregon University to work with a number of really amazing people through SOU youth programs with our Academia Latina, which is a college prep and academic support program for Latino students. And so I reached out to some of the people who were really leaders in that program and asked them if they would be interested in coming on board and helping us in this advisory capacity.
And one of the SOU participants on the committee is Jonathan Chavez?
Rachel Jones: Jonathan Chavez Baez, yes. And he was a co-director for Academia Latina for many years, and so we worked closely together. And I also knew that he has a real passion for the performing arts and music, and he goes to a lot of concerts, and he's very plugged into the music scene. So it seemed like something that would be a really great fit for him, and he was very enthusiastic.
And then reaching out to Victoria and Diana and Ernesto, really trying to think through putting together a committee that was going to be people who would have great thoughts and ideas and also be connected to the community in different ways, through their professional roles and also some diversity. Because just like any community, it's not monolithic. Everybody has their own tastes and their own thoughts and experiences, even within a community. And so we wanted to get some diverse experiences in terms of age and background. And so putting together a group that could give us a lot of different ideas that would reach out to a lot of different folks within the Latinx community.
That makes sense. So you didn't just reach out to Latinx arts organizations. Victoria, for example, offers mental health services to high school students, so she's representing a different facet of this community. So that's great. How many people are on your advisory committee now?
Rachel Jones: We have four representatives from the Britt staff: myself, our chief programming officer, our director of patron services and our stage manager. And then we've got four community members, eight people.
And when did you first meet?
Rachel Jones: It was about a year ago, and the first thing that we did was we invited the four community members out to see a Britt concert, Buena Vista Social Orchestra last summer. And of the four community members, I believe that for three of them, it was their first time attending a concert at Britt, so that just is indicative of the work that we have to do in terms of reaching out.
Diana, let's bring you in on this. Have you been involved on the committee from the start, and what was the process from your perspective in choosing this musical group, Mariachi Sol de México?
Diana Ramos: Yeah, I have been part of the committee from the start. It was something that right away caught my attention. I was one of the people that had never been to the Britt. I had heard about it, but I'd never been, and so when Rachel and Jonathan talked about joining this committee and then opening up this festival to our Latinx community even more, I was like, “Absolutely, that is definitely something that we need to do.” And once I got to experience it, I was like, “This is beautiful, and our community needs to see it.”
We have had plenty of conversations every time we meet about what artists we would like to see, or what artists the community would be happy to see or would be different than some of the other shows that are offered here in the valley. Mariachi is such a staple in the Latinx community, especially in Mexico, so when that was offered, we were like, “Absolutely!” It has been a beautiful process. There's a lot of conversation and a lot of back and forth between all of us to pick the artists that can come and that our community can get to experience.
And were you present at that Buena Vista Social Club concert?
Diana Ramos: I was, yeah.
So you got some excitement from that, from the possibilities.
Diana Ramos: Absolutely, it was amazing. Also, Buena Vista provided some of their background info in Spanish, and that was amazing to see. It’s not often we get to see either bilingual or Spanish-only information during shows, and that was something that really caught my attention that I thought should be emulated in other shows.
And on that note, Buena Vista is coming back this season, too, right?
Rachel Jones: They are, yeah. That's one of the shows that this committee has talked about. We discussed, “Should we bring them back? Would that be a good idea?” And the committee all felt that that would be something that we ought to do. And so we were pleased about that. And then again, also thinking through how, when we bring shows like this to the Britt, how do we make sure that it does feel inclusive and welcoming to everybody who attends - things like having information in Spanish and English. It was really impactful, I think, for the committee to see the Buena Vista Orchestra last year. They're all Spanish speakers, and all of their conversation from the stage was in Spanish.
Victoria, have you been with this committee from the start? What's your experience been with it so far?
Victoria Bencomo: Yes, I have been with them from the start, and it has been great. I'm also one of the people who had never been at the Britt Festival for a concert, and I have lived here for almost 26 years! It was a beautiful experience, just to see people dancing to the Buena Vista Social Club, and people enjoying themselves and bringing culture. It was just amazing, and that was really inspiring. And thinking about the families that I work with, and my own parents being able to go and see our show and being able to connect and also understand what's going on - it made me think that this is a great project, trying to reach out to more people.
Like Rachel said, the Latinx community is not a monolithic community. We have a lot of different genres in terms of music — mariachi, salsa, merengue. We have so much that we can share with others that I'm just grateful that the Britt Festival is thinking about including us. It’s such a staple. I know that there are people from around the state or the country that come specifically to Britt just to see shows, and so far, I'm just excited about what's coming.
We thought when we had the conversation about who we could bring first, mariachi sounded like the best idea, just because it's such a staple. No matter where you go in the world, they can identify mariachi music with our community, and not just in Mexico, but also in the US. It's classic music, too. When you hear it, it has a depth that just brings a lot of feelings. So I'm just really excited to have them over in August, in a few weeks.
I'm glad you said it brings up a lot of feelings because it is really evocative. It's so passionate. And we should say for those who might not be familiar that a mariachi band is a Mexican ensemble, and it's traditionally composed of string instruments, like violins and various guitars.
So were you feeling before, previous to the Brit reaching out, a general lack or under-representation of Latin music in the Rogue Valley, and are they the first to reach out to you in this way?
Victoria Bencomo: Yes, they were the first ones. We always bring groups and bandas for the community; I just think the difference here is that the Britt is a place for a lot of people; it's not just like a dance, it's like a concert. So it's a little bit different. And also, mariachi is a treat. When you have mariachi, it's because something important is happening. It can be a luxury for many to even be in the presence of mariachi, because it's so important for our culture. I'm just glad that the Britt took the initiative. I believe that there have been other places; I think the Craterion theater brought mariachi, I believe, last year - and I didn't know! I understand, maybe it was for many different reasons. That's why the committee and the advisory committee were so invested in making sure that people know about these opportunities, that people find out, and it is accessible to them. Because a lot of things can happen, but if people don't know they're happening, there's no way that you will go and enjoy it.
Yeah, publicity is the important, crucial second stage of that. It's worth noting that the Oregon Folklife Network recently organized an apprenticeship arrangement between two mariachi musicians. The mentor was a trumpet player based in Eugene named Arturo Zavala, who has a band called Mariachi Monumental. So hopefully this will keep gathering momentum.
Diana, after the August 16 concert of Mariachi sol de México at the Britt, your organization, Coalición Fortaleza, is teaming up again with the festival to present an event on September 13. Can you tell our listeners about that?
Diana Ramos: Absolutely, that is another exciting result of this relationship between the Britt and these community organizations. It’s bringing El Mercadito, which is one of our programs that our community loves, to the Britt. El Mercadito is a pop-up style market that uplifts Latinx and BIPOC vendors, artists and in general, entrepreneurs — people that want to showcase their skills, that have small businesses that are just starting up. The one at the Britt will be our sixth, I believe. We just had one July 13th. It was a weekend one, and it is a very special place for the community to come enjoy really beautiful shows, spoken, art, poetry, live podcasts, and at the same time, enjoy good food.
