The innovative Soundscapes of the People research project documents, preserves and engages听 diverse musical and cultural influences in and around Pueblo, Colorado.
鈥淧ueblo Musicians鈥� by Anthony Armijo on the wall of the Klamm Shell in Pueblo, Colorado. Photo credit: Nicole Maio.
The American Music Research Center (AMRC) at the University of Colorado Boulder鈥檚 College of Music is breaking ground with its innovative Soundscapes of the People project, a comprehensive research effort in collaboration with local community stakeholders to document, preserve and engage with diverse musical and cultural influences in and around Pueblo, Colorado.
Backed by a CU Boulder Research & Innovation Seed Grant and an Outreach Award from the Office of Outreach and Engagement鈥攖otaling $74,000鈥攖his year-long study will explore ways that musical traditions have served to bridge social, ethnic, urban/rural and religious identities.
鈥淧ueblo鈥檚 history is the nation鈥檚 history,鈥� says AMRC Director and Professor of Musicology Susan Thomas, who leads the ethnomusicology project with CU Boulder Musicology Chair Austin C. Okigbo and Assistant Professor at the University of California, Riverside.
鈥淧ueblo is home to multiple underrepresented communities and their musical histories are largely undocumented by traditional institutions,鈥� continues Thomas. 鈥淲orking directly with community 鈥榤emory keepers鈥欌�攁nd documenting their musical experiences and knowledge through oral histories鈥攚e aim to address the lack of representation and inclusion in the history of Southern Colorado culture.鈥澨�
Ch谩vez agrees, 鈥淢usic and sounds鈥攌ey components of social identity and community-building鈥攈ave shaped the history, politics and intersecting cultures of Pueblo, particularly since this borderland between the United States and Mexico collided with the industrial revolution.鈥�
Okigbo adds, 鈥淭his project seeks to tell the story of the community and its peoples as a way to highlight their significant, but almost forgotten, contributions to the broader history of Colorado, the American West and United States, in general.鈥�
The stories, music and information gathered will eventually be publicly accessible through the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries Rare and Distinctive Collections, as well as the . The libraries are working on an agreement to also make them accessible through the Colorado State University Pueblo Library (CSUP).
鈥淭his cooperation between CU Boulder and CSUP will be a 鈥榝irst鈥� for both institutions, and we鈥檙e really happy to be working with a local institution to ensure that the interviews and oral histories captured remain fully accessible to the community,鈥� says Thomas.
CSUP Dean of Library Services Rhonda Gonzales states that鈥攂y Spring 2022鈥擟SUP undergraduate students will be working in the library's Special Collections and researched-focused Aztl谩n Center to work with the digital materials and transcribe interviews.
Moreover, research results will inform K-12 curricular materials that will be made digitally available through both the AMRC and the Latino History Project鈥攁 public history initiative supported by CU Boulder鈥檚 School of Education鈥攚orking with the AMRC to provide Colorado educators and the broader community with more resources for understanding the history and contributions of the Latinx community statewide.
鈥淥ur research team views itself as a facilitator for the community to tell its own story,鈥� concludes Thomas. 鈥淲e鈥檙e delighted to work directly with Pueblo scholars and artists who鈥檝e been committed to this work for years鈥攍ike the Song of Pueblo project led by Juan and Deborah Espinosa, who worked with noted composer Daniel Valdez to create a multimedia experience with original music about Pueblo鈥檚 compelling history.听
鈥淭his kind of collaboration is one way that CU Boulder can take an active role in supporting local communities across our state. At the same time, the resulting digital archive will be of high scholarly importance, offering researchers of the American West an unprecedented opportunity to 鈥榣isten in鈥� on the ethnically diverse complexity of Southern Colorado鈥檚 social history.鈥�
All told, the project brings together an interdisciplinary team with expertise in musicology,听ethnomusicology, ethnic studies and history that will work closely with culture-bearers from Pueblo鈥檚 musical community, local educators and civic leaders.