Electric Ensemble Presents:¡VIVA LA PEPA!

Electric Ensemble Presents:¡VIVA LA PEPA!

Drawing from traditional music of Spain and France, ¡Viva la Pepa! has developed its own voice . The... main members, Tom Lozano (Spain), Sharon Berman (USA) and Juan Wijngaard (Argentina), have performed throughout Europe, Central and North America. ¡Vi

Time:7:30PM Friday, March 19th

Location:ARTS Lab

Tomás Lozano is a singer, musician, scholar and writer, born in Barcelona, Spain, from Andalusian parents. Lozano’s music incarnates his mix of cultural roots; he is the flavor itself of a bitter-sweet heritage, a history of conquest and resistance masterfully expressed through his smooth voice, the vibrant fingerwork ...on his guitar and the soothing droning of his hurdy-gurdy. Lozano began as a self taught musician, performing Catalan folk music in Barcelona as a young teenager with the ensemble, Els Trobadors del Vallès. Later he proceeded to tour Europe, playing folk, traditional and medieval music at festivals in Switzerland, southern France, Germany, northern Italy, etc., at which time his career as singer, musician and performer took off to new heights. Then, in 1993, through a sponsorship by the Spanish Ministry of Exterior Affairs, Lozano toured Canada and the United States with the theater troupe Bufons. Lozano has since made the United States his home base, performing solo and with a number of other musicians across the country. He established and directed Crisol Bufons—an internationally recognized New Mexico-based non-profit organization that provided cultural and pedagogical performances across the U.S. largely to underprivileged communities. Other like organizations that he directed and helped create are Hey, Mozart! New Mexico. Together with his wife, Rima Montoya, Lozano started Crisol Luz, an ensemble of medieval, renaissance, Sephardic, and traditional Spanish music. When Crisol Luz fused with Juan Wijngaard and Sharon Berman, they became Viva la Pepa. Presently, Lozano is a permanent member of Viva la Pepa and Trio Lococó. Besides performing, he lectures at colleges and universities across the country and makes musical instruments in his spare time.

Juan Wijngaard was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has lived in the Netherlands, Switzerland and England, where he first heard and fell in love with medieval and later French folk music. He made his first hurdy gurdy in 1976 whilst living in London and taught himself to play it by ear (he still does not read music). Juan became part of the first line up of the band Blowzabella. With his wife Sharon he formed the group Stop S'il Vous Plait which also featured the late Joe Moir and Ed Leddell. Shortly after moving to New Mexico, Juan and Sharon met Tom Lozano and his wife Rima Montoya and joined their group Crizol Luz which played a chiefly Spanish repertoire. Viva La Pepa is a reincarnation of that group. Juan also plays border and Flemish bagpipes.

Sharon Berman

Sharon Berman has performed with ensembles specializing in early, traditional and/or new music. She studied musical traditions of Québec, medieval music performance and the American shape note tradition Sacred Harp. She holds master's degrees in ethnomusicology and visual anthropology, and plays recorder, accordion, and hurdy gurdy.