NWEAMO 2019 Event Four

NWEAMO: SWARMIUS and More

Sun, April 28, 2pm – 4pm

Smith Recital Hall, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182, USA (map)

Described as Trans-Classical Music for the 21st Century, SWARMIUS presents a sonic fusion of Hip-Hop and House-Lounge-Techno. This concert will feature SWARMIUS and friends as they present selections from “El Colibrí Mágico, (The Magic Hummingbird) — A California Story.”

Photo by J. Kat Woronowicz

Selections from ‘The Magic Hummingbird — A  California Story’

Tonight we will perform works from and around  this developing opera. The work is about borders, the borders that we create that separate us from each other, the borders between life and death, between real and imagined,  ancient and modern. And the need to transcend borders of all types. 

The descendants of the Mayans have been making a perilous journey north from Honduras and Guatemala for over 40 years, driven from their homeland by extreme poverty and danger.  

Photo credit required:© 2018 William Chu

Thinking about this, I have been compelled to create a rough retelling of Saint Francis, set in a magic-realistic present among refugees camped at our border,  involving San Diego teenagers on a vision quest,  blended into the ancient myths and sacraments indigenous to this part of the world.