Three groups took the El Camino College community on a musical trip to China, West Africa, Mesoamerica and Mexico through Indigenous sound for the first annual World of Music Festival.
A duo performing music from China kicked off the festival at the Haag Recital Hall on Oct. 12.
Yihan Chen played a four-stringed instrument called a pipa, while Haowei Chang used a guzheng, a 24-stringed zither.
Next to perform was Xochi Cuicatl. The mother, father and daughter trio of Christopher, Yolanda, and Alegria Garcia showcased music from Mesoamerica and Mexico.
They worked together using an incredible culmination of instruments replicating sounds of nature and vocals to convey stories.
“We take things for inspiration and bring it back to ancestral rhythm,” Alegria Garcia said.
The final production of the night came from Malik and Magatte Sow who used drums to showcase West African music. Malik Sow engaged the audience with an interactive show where the viewers would dance and speak in Sow’s native language.
Christopher Garcia said this portion by his fellow performers illustrated how the audience plays a fundamental role in the performance.
“There are no spectators when it comes to music, everyone is a participant,” he said.
Patrick Hahn, an English and creative writing major, considers the World of Music Festival as an incredible, eye-opening experience in which the connection between music and the individual is emphasized.
“These are all family members playing together in harmony, it all felt really connected,” Hahn said. “I love the fact that during the African performance, the audience was performing with the piece, too.”
Andrew Rabaca, a third-year biology major, said the concert was a learning experience and broadened his understanding of music culture around the world.
“Being a STEM major, I am never really in the arts, so it was really interesting seeing all these instruments and performances I’m not used to,” Rabaca said.
The Art Gallery and the Social Justice Center collaborated to bring this event to life. Senator of Fine Arts Dulce Stein said the goal of the festival is for the different factions of El Camino to join forces and reach out to the community and the surrounding areas.
“Each division is very passionate about what they’re doing but there is really no cross-pollination or collaboration with other centers,” Stein said.
Stein hopes the festival will be a recurring annual event. She plans to include more countries to perform their traditional music, adding one country every year.
