Dr. Juan Carlos Ureña, Stephen F. Austin State University assistant professor of modern languages, will give a lecture/demonstration on poetry and music in Central America at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, in the Music Recital Hall on the SFA campus.
The presentation is part of the SFA School of Music’s monthly Robert G. Sidnell Lecture Series in Music Education. The lecture’s title, “Trovar: Memoria Poètica de la Conción Hispanoamericana,” is the same as Ureña’s book from which the lecture material is drawn.
Ureña, who is also an acclaimed composer and musician, will begin his presentation with an overview of the whole book—an analysis of traditional, folk, protest and popular songs from Spain and Latin America, from medieval times to the 21st century.
The majority of the lecture will concentrate on the impact song has had on historical transformations in Central America since the 1970s. Ureña will perform samples of the music during his presentation.
Ureña earned his doctoral degree in Hispanic studies from Texas A&M University, his master’s in music education from SFA and his bachelor’s degree in music education from the Universidad de Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica.
A member of the SFA faculty since 2004, Ureña taught Costa Rican university students for three years. He also has 16 years of experience teaching music and Spanish to public school students in Costa Rica and Texas.
He has numerous written publications and musical recordings to his credit and was nominated for two Latin American Music Awards by the Academy of Country Music in 2000.
The lecture is free and open to the public. The Music Recital Hall is located in Room 160 of the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive.
For more information, please call Dr. Mark E. Turner, coordinator of the Sidnell Lecture Series, at (936) 468-4051.
