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Trinidad Concha (1862-1933), the “singing cobbler,” impacted popular music culture by creating and cultivating various bands in the El Paso area during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Concha, whose music has been described as a synthesis of traditional Mexican folk and contemporary orchestra, served as the assistant director of Mexican President Porfirio Diaz’s Touring Military Band in 1893 and 1894. He deserted the Mexican Military while performing in the United States. Unwilling to risk prosecution in Mexico after his desertion, Concha settled in El Paso and accepted an invitation to join the McGinty Band. In 1897, he formed Concha’s Mexican Concert Band. By 1907, the band was comprised of forty members, including a dozen former members of Diaz’s Military Band. Concha’s music was favored by a diverse audience. His band performed regularly at El Paso’s Cleveland Square and at various building dedications, weddings, funerals, balls, and parties. His repertoire consisted of Mexicanized European operas, polkas, and waltzes, which were popular with music loving El Pasoans. Concha, who supplemented his income working in shoe stores, was also a leader in the musical development of the community. St. Ignatius Church of El Paso hired him in 1905 to assemble a young women’s orchestra that, by 1908, began performing public concerts. Notably, Concha composed two original pieces and performed during the historic meeting of U.S. President William Howard Taft and Mexican President Porfirio Diaz at the El Paso-Juarez border on October 16, 1909. Concha’s most celebrated performance took place on April 27, 1911, when he entered Mexico for the first time in fifteen years to serenade several hundred Maderista Revolutionaries. Concha continued to influence the music of the southwest until his death. 175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011 |
