Beyond the Music: A Musical and Culinary Geography of Mexico

Beyond the Music Foodways Edition: A Music and Culinary Geography of Mexico is a lively lecture/demo presentation that combines music and cuisine with a multi-media cultural history of Mexican regions to better understand the origins of the various musical styles and regional cuisines as well as their significance to the diverse peoples that make up Mexico.

Join two-time GRAMMY-nominated Sones de Mexico Ensemble and award-winning chef Dudley Nieto, on a journey to explore Mexico's geography through a musical and culinary experience.

This program is sponsored in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. This program offered in partnership with Amigos Richmond Latino Center.

Performer / Speaker: Sones de Mexico Ensemble and award-winning chef Dudley Nieto

Sones de Mexico Ensemble, Chicago's premier Mexican folk music band since 1994 with a GRAMMY and a Latin GRAMMY nomination under their belt. The Chicago Tribune says "[They] move seamlessly between styles and instruments playing with rock'n'roll energy without sacrificing cultural authenticity." The quintet is presently formed by multi-instrumentalists and singers Juan Díes, Zacbé Pichardo, Eric Hines, Lorena Iñiguez and Irekani Ferreyra.

Dudley Nieto, award-winning chef and published author, has endured as a culinary prodigy. He has been the executive chef at some of the most popular upscale restaurants in the country, including Chapulín, Rojo Gusano, Zocalo and Eivissa Pintxos in Chicago, Rosa Mexicano and Bartaco in New York, among numerous others.

Mexican cuisine has been designated Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO as "a comprehensive cultural model that encompasses agriculture, ritual practices, ancient skills, culinary techniques and the customs and traditions of the ancestral community,” and it hasn’t become popular by accident. Traditional Mexican music has been transmitted in similar ways.