SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, Mexico – March 24, 2021 – The San Miguel de Allende Tourism Board joins in the celebration of the release of Mexican singer and composer’s Magos Herrera’s new music video. Shot in the local church of Santuario de Atotonilco, the video of the colonial-era building and its rich history sets the right visual tone for one of Latin America’s most recognized songs: “Cucurrucucú Paloma.”
Last December, Herrera and composer Paola Prestini released their album and digital experience “Con Alma,” described as “an operatic tableau on isolation” featuring original works alongside classic songs from the Mexican and jazz songbook. Created and recorded remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic, the project explores the question of how we can find communion and shared experience in a time of isolation.
Derived from this album and filmed under pandemic protocols at the iconic Santuario de Atotonilco in San Miguel de Allende — in the Bajío region of Mexico, where Herrera has expend most of her quarantine — this new video shows her rendition of the Mexican classic song “Cucurrucucú Paloma” by Tomás Méndez, in a beautiful arrangement by Gonzalo Grau with one of the most important orchestras in Mexico, “La Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería.” It’s a fine example of the power of creation and teamwork and the new horizons that the pandemic has opened for the performing arts of the future.
Today, the video premieres with the sponsorship of Mexican Cultural Institute DC.
San Miguel de Allende’s cultural significance, its architectural contribution to the Mexican Baroque art and architecture movement, and the historical role it played in the fight for Mexican independence led to its being included in UNESCO’s World Heritage list as part of the “Protective town of San Miguel el Grande and the Sanctuary of Jesus Nazareno de Atotonilco” in 2008.
The city has enjoyed an enduring relationship with the arts and has been a longtime popular destination for American expats who travel to the city to create all types of artwork at the Institute Allende, where art classes can still be taken on a weekly or extended basis.
Today, the city’s streets are chock-full of art galleries packed with everything from modern and contemporary art to works by local artisans and indigenous peoples from around the Americas. Artists can often be found busy at work in their studios, and new exhibits showcasing contemporary, furniture and interior design, antiques and jewelry, and linens and home accessories are always on.
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