New Song Cycle LOS BUFONES to Play National Hispanic Cultural Center

The world premiere of Los Bufones, an innovative new song cycle for theatre, will run from January 19-22 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center as part of the NHCC's Siembra: Latino Theatre Season.

Performances are at 7:30 pm Thursday through Saturday and 2 pm Sunday in the Albuquerque Journal Theatre. Tickets are $12, $17, and $22, with a $2 discount for students, seniors, and NHCC members, and are available from the NHCC Box Office, at (505) 724-4771, or at www.nhccnm.org.

Based on Diego Velázquez' mesmerizing paintings of jesters and dwarfs at the court of Philip IV of Spain, Los Bufones brings to life these fascinating individuals-comedians and outcasts, confidantes and spies-in a richly melodic work, sung in Spanish with English supertitles.

For the King's Bufones, who are both adored and hated in the world of the court, each day means striving for balance in a web of intrigues and ambitions. In musical solos and ensembles, they reveal their personal lives as intimates of the royal family, as well as their privileged perspective on the crumbling order, splendor, and decadence of mid-seventeenth century Spain at the end of its Golden Era.

Los Bufones, with music and libretto by Ron Strauss, Spanish version by María Cristina López, and stage direction by Jean Moss, is produced in collaboration with Teatro Paraguas. The work features sopranos Ingela Onstad and Christina Martos, tenors Sam Shepperson and André García-Nuthmann, and baritones Michael Hix and Carlos Archuleta. Kristin Ditlow conducts, with Megan Holland on violin, Joel Becktell on cello, and Debra Ayers on piano.

The National Hispanic Cultural Center is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and advancement of Hispanic culture, arts, and humanities, and is a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.