ACFA: Making Music that Matters
Monterey County Pops! and the Alisal Center for the Fine Arts present a FREE Family Concert
Saturday, October 12, at 6:30 pm. (Doors open at 6pm.)
745 N Sanborn Rd, Salinas, CA 93905
Monterey County Pops!, the area’s only provider of free-to-the-public professional concerts, is proud to collaborate with young performers at the Alisal Center for the Fine Arts (ACFA) in Salinas to present the fourth annual Family Concert celebrating the Alisal community and Latin music traditions.
The Alisal Center for Fine Arts works to “cultivate youth leaders committed to cultural affirmation and community transformation” in the East Alisal/Acosta Plaza area of Salinas, an area challenged by poverty and gang violence.
Monterey County Pops! mission is to engage and educate young, underserved performers and their families in the positive experience of building community by making music that celebrates our diverse cultures. Monterey County Pops! takes music to our audiences by presenting 10 free-to-the-public concerts throughout Monterey County each year featuring student performers backed by as many as 40 professional musicians in programs ranging from pops and patriotic music to Latin standards.
In a two-hour residency, 20 of Monterey County Pops! professional musicians will rehearse with the ACFA students musical pieces selected from the curriculum that they have been studying. Titles include “Tierra Mestiza”, “La Bruja”, “Adelita”, “De Colores”, and “La Bamba.” Monterey County Pops! has worked closely with the instructors at ACFA and created symphonic arrangements that complement the performance by the students.
The residency will be open to the public at the Alisal Center for the Fine Arts from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m.
The residency and the concert will be led and bilingually hosted by Monterey County Pops! Music Director, Dr. Carl Christensen, who taught music for more than 30 years at Hartnell College. Prior to coming to Salinas in 1981, he lived in Mexico City for 10 years performing as the Principal Trombonist of the Mexico City Philharmonic.
“Our collaboration with the Alisal Center for the Fine Arts inspires so many different groups — from the students, to the professional musicians, to family members who attend, and to the community at large. Working together to celebrate our connections can change lives.”
Dr. Carl Christensen, Monterey County Pops! Music Director and Conductor
Concert Program
The free concert will include selections combining the Monterey County Pops! professional musicians with the ACFA Performing Ensemble (guitars, strings, percussion), Baile Folklórico Alma y Tradición (two dance ensembles performing traditional dances of Veracruz and Jalisco), and the Mariachi Juvenil Alisal of the Alisal Union School District. Titles studied and performed will include “Tierra Mestiza”, “La Bruja”, “Adelita”, “De Colores”, and “La Bamba.”
The Monterey County Pops! will also perform traditional Latin music, classical favorites, Mexican and North American marches, and music from the popular film, “CoCo.”
