Loyola University to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Concert Connecting Cultures From Around the World

NEW ORLEANS – The music of Cuba, Argentina, Spain and more will fill Nunemaker
Hall at Loyola University on Monday, as students come together for a concert bridging
Hispanic cultures through the medium of song.

The Hispanic Heritage Month Concert Experience, as the event is billed, is the focus of
this week’s Forum class at Loyola, which starts at 5 p.m. and is taught by Jonathan
McHugh, Hilton-Baldridge Eminent Scholar/Chair in Music Industry Studies. Only this
week, McHugh isn’t running the class – one of his students is.

Ben Delgado, a junior in Music Industry Studies from San Diego, brought the idea for a
concert connecting Hispanic cultures from around the world to McHugh, in an effort to
celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place this year from Sept. 15 to Oct.
15, at Loyola.

“Being able to program a class like Forum is amazing,” McHugh said. “Students bring

me ideas, and I try to help them realize them. Ben totally stepped up and put the multi-
national student band with singers together. Then I reached out and recruited some of

the best Latin-themed local musicians in the city.”

At the concert, students will perform alongside those musicians, including Alexey Marti,
a Cuban-born percussionist and bandleader; Margie Perez, a singer-songwriter of
Cuban descent, who blends blues, pop and Latin music, with a New Orleans bent; Craig
Klein, a New Orleans native and trumpeter with the Grammy Award-winning New
Orleans Nightcrawlers; Joe Cabral, saxophone player with the beloved New Orleans
band, the Iguanas; and Wayne Maureau, a Loyola percussion instructor and musician
for 20 years.

The concert will feature eight of the best-known Latin anthems from around the world:
- Bésame Mucho (Mexico)
- Cantinero de Cuba (Cuba)
- El Cumbanchero (Puerto Rico)
- Algo Contigo (Argentina)
- Suerte (Colombian)
- Nunca Es Suficiente (Mexico)

6363 St. Charles Avenue, Campus Box 8, New Orleans, LA 70118, 504.865.3037, loyno.edu/cmm
- Entre Dos Aguas (Spain)
- Soledad y el Mar (Dominican Republic)

Delgado came up with the concept for the concert this summer when visiting his uncle
in Spain, who is involved in an organization there that works to bring together the
various Hispanic cultures worldwide.

The uncle asked Delgado to handle the music for an event he is organizing that is
taking place in November in Spain, and Delgado thought the idea was a perfect match
for Loyola, which enrolls a sizeable number of Hispanic students.

Delgado will introduce the concert by discussing what he is calling his Hispanic Heritage
Project – a passion project unrelated to his studies – and he will have the singers of
each song tell how the songs are meaningful to them. Following the concert, Delgado
will record the music at Loyola and send the tracks to Spain for his uncle’s event.
“From the moment I conceived the idea for this project, I saw the wonderful opportunity
to gather the Hispanic musicians at Loyola together to appreciate the music our parents
grew up with,” Delgado said. “Growing up as a Spaniard in southern California, I’ve
always felt connected to Hispanic music, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be able to
celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and share this wonderful music with my peers.”