UCLA launches world's top online archive of Mexican, Mexican American recordings
Members of Los Tigres Del Norte, Arhoolie Foundation to speak at event
By Letisia Marquez
March 11, 2009
WHAT:
The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, the UCLA Library, legendary norteño band Los Tigres Del Norte and the Arhoolie Foundation will host the public launch of the Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings at UCLA, the largest online digital archive of its kind in the world.
The digitized historical archive comprises approximately 41,000 selections, including some 32,000 78 rpm recordings, and features a diverse range of material, from early corridos, boleros and sones to patriotic speeches and comedy skits. Among the collection's many gems are the first known recordings, in 1908, of the mariachi group Cuarteto Coculense in Mexico City; the first recordings, in 1928, by Tejano music legend Lydia Mendoza; and the first disc recordings, in 1937, by accordion pioneer Narciso Martinez.
WHO:
Speakers at the event will include:
- Members of Grammy-winning norteño band Los Tigres Del Norte
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Chris Strachwitz, president of the Arhoolie Foundation
-
Antonio Cuellar, the Arhoolie Foundation's digital archivist
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Chon Noriega, director of UCLA's Chicano Studies Research Center
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Javier Iribarren, assistant director of UCLA's Chicano Studies Research Center
- Sharon Farb, the UCLA Library's associate university librarian for collection management and scholarly communication
- Stephen Davison, head of the UCLA Library's Digital Library Program
WHEN:
10 a.m., Thursday, March 26
WHERE:
UCLA Morgan Center Press Room, 325 Westwood Plaza, on the UCLA campus
BACKGROUND:
Arhoolie Foundation President Chris Strachwitz amassed the Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings at UCLA. In 2000, the Los Tigres Del Norte Foundation donated $500,000 to UCLA's Chicano Studies Research Center to establish the Los Tigres Del Norte Fund; a principal project of the fund was to finance the digitization of the Frontera collection's 78 rpm discs, which were recorded between approximately 1905 and 1955. The Fund for Folk Culture also sponsored the project.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Letisia Márquez, UCLA Office of Media Relations, 310-206-3986
John Reilly, Rogers & Cowan, 212-445-8440
Martha Ledezma, Fonovisa Records, 818-577-4672
PARKING:
Media trucks can park on top of Lot 8. All other media vehicles can park in Lot 6. Media must call UCLA media contact for reservations.