One-Man Band: Soapbox aka Rodrigo Rosales

One-Man Band: Soapbox aka Rodrigo Rosales (photo by Alan Benchoam)

Anyone who listens to music radio in Guatemala will no doubt be familiar with the name Soapbox. The talented musician had a No. 1 hit with his first solo single Time, and his second release, Now I’m Gone, looks to be heading in a similar direction. But not everyone may be aware that the man behind the name, Rodrigo Rosales, […]

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Blues master Steve James performs in La Antigua

Internationally known blues guitarist Steve James traveled from Austin, Texas, to perform for an appreciative audience at Ocelot, the blues & jazz joint in La Antigua Guatemala. The intimate setting, limited to just 50 guests, was the perfect venue for James’ flawless fingerpicking on the guitar and mandolin. Singing old standards and newer favorites from his latest CD, ‘Short Blue […]

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Rising Rock Star: Luis de la Rosa

[youtube]KsNn0Ddbi8o[/youtube] The amp buzzes with a crackling hum through the speakers. Much of the young crowd is already alert and attentive, waiting for the first notes to drop. With a casual confidence he lifts the guitar to his waist and, before you can blink, his fingers launch into an erratic frenzy over the juiced strings, somehow producing a harmonious and […]

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CD Release: Antigua All Stars

A collective music project, featuring the diverse songs, sounds and melodies of La Antigua Guatemala, began recently through a serendipitous meeting of one of La Antigua’s much-loved musicians and an Australian engineer. Antonio Jueves, who recently returned to La Antigua from a year of festivals and tours in Europe, and Corrina Grace, who recently moved to La Antigua to start […]

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Not Just Another Flash in the Pan Pipe

text and photos by Michael Sherer Haunting sinuous melodies interwoven with cañas and Peruvian pan pipes, punctuated by a perfect blend of voices backed by guitars and 10-string charangos, peppered with conga drums and a professional quality home-made bass drum fill the green-and-white room at the La Peña de Sol Latino restaurant and bar five nights a week in La […]

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Musical Ambassadors

by Jack and Joy Houston Dubbed ‘Musical Ambassadors’, 55 members of the all-male University of Notre Dame Glee Club of Indiana will sing again in Guatemala, in joint concert with 25 members of the co-ed Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra. Concerts will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 30, at Iglesia San Francisco El Grande in La Antigua, and 7 p.m. […]

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Cantores Finlandeses Performs For Guatemala

Cantores Finlandeses is a mixed-voice choir of 22 singers under the leadership of conductor Sören Hakola and accompanied by Martin Segerstråle on the piano. Specially put together for the trip to Guatemala, the choir represents the amateur music life of Finland’s Swedish-speaking population and belongs to the country’s largest Swedish-language association for amateur music. All the singers belong to choirs […]

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Christmas Music from Renaissance Antigua

Written by Dieter Lehnhoff, Ph.D. From the Renaissance to the late Baroque era (1534-1773) Santiago de Guatemala—present-day La Antigua Guatemala—was proud of its intense music life, rivaled only by Lima, Mexico City, and probably Bogotá. Beginning in 1524, early clergy had introduced Gregorian chant and choral polyphony for the different liturgical celebrations of the year, held in the first parish […]

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A Tribute to Andy Palacio

The “Garífuna Settlement Day” celebration will travel from Belize to La Antigua Guatemala for a performance at 6:00 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22 at Santa Isabel (Carretera a San Bartolomé Becerra) This celebration marks the arrival of the first Garífuna to Belize in 1832 and is celebrated throughout Belize and Central America. Produced by Planeta en Ritmo, the event will pay […]

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