By Honorary Reporter Laura Lopez Velazquez from Mexico
Photos = Coreatitlan Ensamble

Coreatitlan Ensamble holds a concert at Jose Luis Cuevas Museum in Mexico City, Mexico.

Coreatitlan Ensamble is a group of musicians from Korea and Mexico formed in 2019. The name combines the terms "Corea," the Spanish word for Korea, and "Tenochititlan," the capital of the Aztec Empire and present-day Mexico City.

I received an invitation to attend the group's concert at the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in Mexico. Though unable to go, I learned more about the troupe's musical journey from July 15-22 in a written interview with the members.

From left to right are Juan R. Islas, Erick Covarrubias, Jang Hae-young, Miguel Arizmendi and Fernando de Jesus Garcia at the National Museum of the Viceroyalty in Tepotzotlan, Mexico.

Please introduce yourselves.
Jang Hae-young is our soprano singer and Erick Covarrubias our pianist. Miguel Arizmendi is on classical guitar and vocals and Juan R. Islas on both the classical and electric guitars. Fernando de Jesus Garcia is our flutist, percussionist and singer and Enrique San Andres Garcia also plays the guitar.

How was your group formed?
We met at cultural diffusion workshops at the Ibero-American University in Mexico City. In 2019, Jang invited us to perform with her at the National Museum of the Viceroyalty. We began performing together and Coreatitlan Ensamble was born.

Coreatitlan Ensamble performs at the Diego Rivera Mural Museum in Mexico City.

How would you describe your musical genre?
Our performances in Korean consist of art songs, a genre that uses poems as lyrics with classical melodies, and soundtracks from Korean movies and dramas. Our material in Spanish varies from bolero and concert music to rock and cumbia. We also perform European classical music, something that has helped develop our instrumental techniques. By covering a range of genres, we promote the notion of no prejudice in musical expression.

Do you perform any original songs?
At the Arirang Concour 2020 hosted by the KCC in Mexico City, we performed "El Deseo de Estar Contigo" (The Desire to Be With You), a salsa rendition of the Korean folk song "Arirang," composed by percussionist Garcia. We won third in the competition.

Briefly describe your concert last year, "Eight Decades of Korean Music."
We performed our own interpretations of Korean music from 1942 to 2014, a cover of composer Kim Dong-jin's "New Arirang," and versions of Arirang from regions like Jindo and Miryang. We also did Korean art songs, ballads and film music. We hope to revisit this concept with an expanded repertoire covering a wider representation of other eras in Korean history.

When is your next concert?
"Alegria y Melancolia" (Joy and Melancholy) is scheduled for Aug. 19 at the National Museum of Art in Mexico City.

What are your plans?
We want to spread music and friendship across borders. Our goal at the moment is to tour Mexican cities with a wide musical offerings and strong multiculturalism like Merida or Tijuana. We also want to perform in Korea as well as any country with a KCC like Argentina, Cuba and the U.S.