Amparo Ochoa: La Nueva Cancion and Political Currents in Mexico
Description:
The Mexican American Experience, a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Amparo Ochoa discusses her particular style of folk music, its influences and the message she seeks to convey to her audience. Ochoa is part of a larger trend of folk singers, mostly university students, who became popular during the counterculture era of the 1960s in Latin America. Their music, which usually incorporated indigenous instruments and protests social injustice, often faced severe repression. Ochoa, who is from Sinaloa, sings about historic social struggles in Mexico. Her music blends political songs with traditional Mexican styles and she discusses how her music expresses her own interpretation of what she sees and hears around her, both in terms of music and politics. However, her music does not typically have an overt political message because, Ochoa explains, she seeks to attract as broad an audience as possible. She also discusses the Mexican government's support for music and culture. She explains that she has never experienced repression or censorship. To the contrary, the government has provided several opportunities for her to play to international audiences. Fregoso then discusses the particular brand of protest Ochoa espouses and notes that most of her songs are about the Mexican Revolution of 1910. She sings about the political struggles revolutionaries fought for, and in so doing glorifies a history the government accepts and promotes. Although Ochoa is concerned with social protest, she does not believe it is her role to raise people's consciousness. Rather, she tries to create music that is complex enough that the social message is not necessarily obvious and must be sought out. Keywords: 1968, Amparo Ochoa, Chile, Corridos, Counterculture, Cultural Influence, Daniel Garcia, Daniel Viglietti, Folk Music, Higher Education, Inti Illiman, Joan Baez, Jorge Saldaña, La Nueva Cancion, Latin America, Mexican Government, Mexican Revolution, Mexico, Music Festivals, Music History, Pancho Villa, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, Protest music, Ranchera, Repression, Sinaloa, Socially Conscious Art, the 60s, Transnationalism, UNAM, University Students, Victor Jara, Violeta Parra, Youth culture. Broadcast date: 1981-02-05.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator), Fregoso, Rosa Linda. (host), and Ochoa, Amparo (interviewee)
Date Created/Date Issued:
1/30/1981
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin