Tour Itinerary (back
to top)
Past itineraries - sorted by state and performance
date (view)
9/16/10 7:00 PM Nashville, TN Vanderbilt University
9/21/10 12:30 PM Elgin, IL Elgin Community College
9/22/10 7:30 PM New Ulm, MN Martin Luther College
9/27/10 11:30 AM Springfield, IL Lincoln Land Community College
9/29/10 7:00 PM Conway, SC Coastal Carolina University - Diversity
10/5/10 7:00 PM Dudley, MA Nichols College - Cultural Institute
10/6/10 7:00 PM New London, NH Colby Sawyer College
10/13/10 7:00 PM Schuykill Haven, PA Penn State University - Schuylkill
1/27/10 7:30 PM Beebe, AR Arkansas State University at Beebe
4/20/11 3:00 PM Willimantic, CT Eastern Connecticut State University
Frequently
featured as a Hispanic teenage role model her unusual academic achievements
and musical success made national headlines. Since then, she has
continued with a remarkable career as a classical and flamenco guitarist
and opera singer, completed here Ph.D. at Notre Dame, and has spent
years touring on the university concert and lecture circuit.
What
has she been up to?
While
maintaining an ongoing performance and recording schedule, AnnaMaria
also takes time to serve her country. While researching the roots
of New Mexican musical and religious traditions for her doctoral
dissertation, she became absorbed in the study of the cultural relationships
between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. After September 11th,
her expertise lead her to assist government efforts where improved
cultural understanding can aid in combating terrorism.
AnnaMaria
deployed to Iraq while working for the FBI and just returned from
Afghanistan, where she served as the Senior Social Scientist on
an Army Human Terrain Team embedded with the U.S. Marines. Her efforts
interacting with Afghan communities were filmed by National Geographic
Explorer for their next season's opening piece. Never missing a
step in her music, AnnaMaria even provided vocals for the latest
album featuring Kanye West and John Legend titled Good Morning Good
Night, which was recently released while she was deployed.
She
has received the Joint Service Civilian Commendation Medal and the
Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terrorism for her
service, and was a laureate of the Mother Theresa Award for her
artistic efforts.
Program Options: Ideas for presenting Anna Maria
on your campus (back to top)
1)
AnnaMaria’s typical program, a Musical Journey, tracing
the Cultural and Historical Development of the Roots of Flamenco
and its parallel in northern New Mexico through the dramatic storyline
of the life of an individual character. While this program is continually
updated and adapted, elements represented musically often include
the fleeing of Inquisitional Spain in order to more safely maintain
a unique ethnic/religious identity (i.e. the cases of Crypto-Judaism
and Crypto-Islam, the plight of the gypsies, or the suppression
of Mozarab Catholic expression), the new cultural developments encountered
in an emerging Mexico, and the trials and triumph of Spanish Colonial
identity in the most dangerous and remote outpost of the Spanish
New World. This especially explores the contributions of the Penitente
cult, the great maintainer of Spanish religiosity and culture through
centuries of isolation and a hidden remaining clue to the origins
of Hispanic identity throughout the world today.
2)
Lectures on the above material suited to a truly
academic format. Program option 1 presents a great deal of the heart
of my research, but without ever loosing its entertainment value
as part of an engaging performance. Program option 2 would address
this fascinating area in a much more traditional scholarly format.
Academic areas that could be emphasized in lecture format include:
Hispanic/Latino Studies, Music, History, Theology, and a number
of interdisciplinary possibilities.
3) A purely Classical Concert . Eliminating the
research and dramatic aspects of program option 1, I am able to
offer a quite popular concert format to the university classical
music audience and to a cross-over audience intrigued by the romantic
allure of the Spanish guitar.
4) A Master Class. It is typical that universities
securing a concert from a classical artist will request that the
performer stay to offer technical help to music students on campus
in a master class format. I especially love interaction with other
young musicians.
5) Any combination of longer-term options, up to a length of Residency.
Lectures could be adapted to classroom format, and I would be happy
to speak to any number of classes. Musical instruction can expanded
from the master class format to longer-term periods of immersion
in classical or flamenco technique, perhaps ultimately preparing
students for a group flamenco program of their own. (This type of
residency has been quite popular with students and worked well for
me in the past.)
6) A program designed to help students Fall in Love with
Opera by making its world accessible, understandable, and
relevant to the life of a young, educated person. Such a program
would likely incorporate a series of scenes, and it may well be
possible to bring in a small corps of talented professional opera
singers to span the necessary range of roles. A more scaled-back
program of the same nature might simply focus on the sultry realm
of the mezzo-soprano repertoire (i.e. “Get to Know a Mezzo”)
or illustrate a style of opera (i.e. Italian, French, etc.).
7) Like program option 6, could possibly incorporate a larger show
of more performers or simply be limited to my own performance, Collaborations,
Encounters between Nationalities , opens up a different
realm of possibilities. For example, the encounter between the Native
American and Spanish population presents an interesting musical
palate for two performers as does.
Reviews and comments (back
to top)
Our students ABSOLUTELY LOVED Anna Maria. We got excellent reviews
regarding her performance and interaction with our students. Thank
you so much for working with us.
Ms. Samantha Wilson, Associate VP for Student Life, Southern
Wesleyan University, Central, SC
Anna Maria was AMAZING. She is a lovely person and it was a pleasure
meeting her. The audience really enjoyed her. I was surprised by
their response. After her last song ended, she walked off stage
and they all remained seated…this has never happened. I said
that she could answer questions, but if people needed to leave for
class they could go. No one moved. Then there were several questions
asked, and after that, many came up to meet her personally. Again,
I can’t stress how unusual this is for our campus. She was
a pleasure to have, and her musical ability was mesmerizing.
Carissa Kollath, Student Activities Coordinator, Northeast Community
College – Norfolk, NE
The experience was marvelous for us. As I told AnnaMaria, the website
information is very accurate in saying that she engages the audience
with such warmth. Her musical ability, knowledge of history and
sincerity with the audience is phenomenal.
Barbara Velazquez, Coord of Intercultural Education, Metropolitan
Community College - Omaha, NE
I must say that it was a great program. I really enjoyed working
with AnnaMaria, because she was both flexible and genial. Her talent
and knowledge is definitely unmatched. Everyone there was eager
to speak with her and expressed their hope she would come again
in the future. Thanks for helping us out with this one. Have a good
day!
Tashayla Collins, Director of Student Activities, University
of Arkansas, Little Rock
Anna Maria was dynamic, very interactive with the students and she
received a standing ovation.
Alex Hines, Director for Cultural Diversity, Winona
State University - Winona, MN
AnnaMaria was great! I received a lot of positive feedback! A lot
of people that would like her CD, to have her back, etc., thanks…it
was a good show! J
Molly Murawksi, Student Life Advisor, Dunwoody College - Minneapolis,
MN
AnnaMaria was wonderful and we certainly hope that she is interested
in coming back. Many of my students agreed that she was the best
performer we have had over the past four years. I hope that AnnaMaria
enjoyed her Lakeland College visit as much as we enjoyed her music
and company!
Katie Shumway, Fine Arts Coordinator, Lakeland College - Sheboygan,
WI
AnnaMaria was great!!!!!!!! Despite some technical difficulties.
She was very gracious. The crowd of 205 was great and according
to our survey enjoyed her performance very much. The ratings for
her on a scale of one being the lowest and five the highest, were
all fives. We did have some problems with the lighting and sound,
and this being my first "big" event I was not prepared.
I will make sure it doesn't happen again. I would like to thank
all of you for your service and help. AnnaMaria was very helpful
with materials and advice. Thanks again and may God bless you.
José J. Mercado , Associate Dean , Center for Multicultural
Enrichment, Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA
AnnaMaria’s performance at ENMU was superb. Her talent, personality,
and disposition towards the faculty, staff, and students were astonishing.
Most definitely, we will invite her to come back on campus.
Diana Cordova , Multicultural Affairs Director , Eastern New
Mexico University
Things were awesome with AnnaMaria!
We love her and I always have a good time talking with her. She
is very uplifting and our conversations are always fulfilling! AnnaMaria
is just SO wonderful with the students. Please let her know we enjoyed
her presence at the college!
Krissie Harris, Coordinator of Student Activities, Oakton Community
College - Des Plaines, IL
Lalo - Bill Miller - Anna Maria - - Cultural Day - Grand Valley
State University, MI
The event was great. I don't know what to say other than that. Each
of them had their own individual input into the success of my event
and I greatly appreciated it. Some individuals were even talking
about getting Bill Miller to come back to do an event for our Native
American community. I thank you for helping work that out for us
and we will keep you in mind for future events.
David A. Clark III, Programming Graduate Assistant, Office of
Student Life, Grand Valley State University, MI
Anna Maria was wonderful!! The audience and student group that sponsored
her, loved the performance.
Brittney Wood, Program Coordinator, Student Activities, Texas
A&M, Corpus Christi
Anna Maria's concert went great. We enjoyed the show and got a great
turnout. All of us got to know Anna Maria and hang out with her
for a while. She is a class act and hopefully we'll get an opportunity
to see her again in the future.
Tap Rudra, President, Islander Cultural Alliance, Student Activities,
Texas A&M, Corpus Christi
Thank you so much for suggesting Anna Maria. The concert last night
was a real hit and I learned a lot from her lecture yesterday morning.
We greatly enjoyed having her on our campus. She is a very gifted
performer, especially in the way she engages the audience in a dialogue.
I will recommend her highly to other campuses.
Billy Pritchett, Campus Arts Director – Northwood University
AnnaMaria, thanks for the fantastic evening with our students last
week. I promised to share the student feedback and here it is: Comments:
(sic) “I LOVED IT!!” - “She is great! I could
tell that she puts herself into what she plays. The passion stands
out and makes it so enjoyable!” - “Talented, interesting,
and pleasant.” - “Beautiful music. Reminds me of Spring
Break last year. I went to Spain; you feel this music more than
hear it.” - “Musician was very talented & very pretty.”
- “She was incredible. She’s an amazing musician.”
- “Excellent performer, excellent program.”
Jamey Campbell, Assistant Director of Student Activities, Hendrix
College, AR
AnnaMaria was great! She's very personable and performed well. The
feedback I got from the audience was that they enjoyed the music
very much. It is always hard for performers to connect with the
audience when it is an operating cafeteria, but throughout AnnaMaria's
performance she had people moving up to the "stage" area,
and hanging out longer than it took them to finish their meals.
For us, that shows she was well liked. She was a joy to work with.
Shelley McNeely, Student Development Specialist Western Wisconsin
Technical College - La Crosse, WI
AnnaMaria’s performance was wonderful. Her interactions with
staff, students, and the public were great. The concert attendees
were very pleased with her performances and many remained after
the performances to talk with her. Her music, explanations and the
background she shared with attendees made it a bit of a personal
performance, which attendees enjoyed. She engaged attendees by asking
for questions, again bringing the attendees into a more personal
setting and experience. She delighted attendees by playing some
of the music they requested. I would say it was a huge success and
her performance was enjoyed by all.
Beth Raffaelli, Special Events Committee University of Wiscinson
- Sheboygan at Shebyogan, WI
The event with Anna Maria went great. First of all, it was a real
treat to get to spend the day with her. She is a very down-to-earth
person, and very kind. Her performance was awesome, too. I really
enjoyed her music. I feel privileged that I was able to spend so
much time with such a wonderful person.
Jared, Diversity Chair, University of Akron
AnnaMaria was a wonderful addition to our cultural programming series.
The performance she gave in the community theatre was also wonderful
- the audience didn't want her to let her quit. She was a delight
to work with - she is a gifted artist and performer, she was accommodating,
flexible and most of all she is a wonderful person. If all campus
programming involved people of her caliber and character this job
would be a walk in the woods. I would recommend her without reservation
to anyone interested in quality programming.
Dennis Thompson, Director of Placement - Alexandria Technical
College
"Some specific things I’d like to say about AnnaMaria
is she really asked a lot of questions to find out what her audiences
would be so she could tailor her performances to them. She mentioned
that some of the requests I made and the kind of performances she
did while she was here were not her typical performances so she
adapted very well. The presenting that she and her father did were
very appropriate and they spoke considerably about the importance
of community college and how helpful it was to allowing her to reach
her dreams, so that was great. All in all, she and her family were
wonderful to work with and very flexible, well organized and prepared!"
Deana Trawny, Associate Dean of Student Services - Marshalltown
Community College (IA)
Interview (back to
top)
(None available at this time)
|
