7 pm
Museum of International Folk Art Facebook page HERE

Every year the NHCC holds its annual Despedida (Farewell) to celebrate Día de los Muertos with music, poetry, and hands-on art at this time-honored community gathering. Unfortunately, with the current health restrictions, this year’s Despedida is another wonderful in-person event that has been canceled. We are going to miss our ofrendas around the NHCC campus, as well as the music, poetry, traditional hot chocolate mexicano, pan de muerto, and the opportunity to share our heartfelt memories with you, our familia.

But we can still celebrate, and we hope you will join our friends at the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) for a virtual Día de los Muertos concert featuring our friends Carol and Leila—Las Flores del Valle of Albuquerque.

Free community event

Carol Vigil and Leila Flores-Dueñas comprise a New Mexico women’s dueto, whose smooth harmonies are reminiscent of the many hermanas duos that became famous during the 1960s. These groups helped form the lasting harmony structures of today’s U.S./Mexico Borderlands music scene. Accompanied by multi-talented musician and cultural anthropologist David F. Garcia, Las Flores del Valle aim to preserve and share the nuances of the many musical genres that are representative of their family histories.

Las Flores del Valle have shared their talents at venues such as the Gene Autry Theater in Los Angeles and Universidad Pedadógica Nacional in México City, as well as the National Hispanic Cultural Center. This has allowed them to showcase their forte of preserving cultural traditions and Southwest history through the arts. They are also known for their presentations on life along the U.S./Mexico border, covering topics such as the role of corridos (stories told in song) in Mexican and Southwestern music, soldaderas of the Mexican Revolution, Día de los Muertos, and women’s roles in Borderland music.