Honoring Corridos and Celestino Fernandez

The 2023 edition of Tucson Meet Yourself honored the Corrido and one of its most prominent researchers and writers, Dr. Celestino Fernandez. He was interviewed by Dr. Estevan Azcona, musicologist and associated research scientist at the Southwest Center, as local corridistas played some of his compositions. “Running tales” inspired by real events, Corridos amplify voices often muffled by dominant culture. A composer of over 50 corridos, Fernandez recently released Corridos de Celestino, a double album featuring corridos on immigration, the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and the massacre of 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, among other events.