Antonia Apodaca
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Antonia Apodaca (November 1, 1923 – January 25, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter known for her performances of traditional
New Mexico music The New Mexico music genre () is a genre of music that originated in the US state of New Mexico. It derives from Pueblo music in the 13th century, and with the folk music of Hispanos during the 16th to 19th centuries in Santa Fe de Nuevo Méxic ...
. She came to wider prominence through her performances in the ''La Música de los Viejitos'' festival in Santa Fe, the festival's nationally circulated radio broadcasts, and her appearances at the
Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the Fo ...
.Montaño, Mary Caroline (2001)
''Tradiciones Nuevomexicanas: Hispano Arts and Culture of New Mexico''
pp. 181–182, 187. University of New Mexico Press
Weideman, Paul (9 April 2013)

''
The Santa Fe New Mexican file:Santa Fe New Mexican 1868-11-24.jpg, alt=front page of a broadsheet newspaper, front page of ''The Daily New Mexican'' for 24 November 1868 ''The Santa Fe New Mexican'' or simply ''The New Mexican'' is a daily newspaper published in Sant ...
''. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
Lamadrid, Enrique R. (2000)
"'Cielos del Norte, Alma del Rio Arriba': Nuevo Mexicano Folk Music Revivals, Recordings 1943–98"
''The Journal of American Folklore'', Vol. 113, No. 449, pp. 317–318. .


Biography

Apodaca was born in Rociada, a village in
San Miguel County, New Mexico San Miguel County () is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,201. Its county seat is Las Vegas. San Miguel County comprises the Las Vegas Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also include ...
. Her parents, José Damacio Martinez and Rafaelita Suazo Martinez were both musicians from families of musicians. Her mother played the accordion and guitar and her father the guitar, accordion, and violin. They had a small band that entertained at local dances and weddings. Antonia taught herself to play the accordion as a child, initially on a broken one she had rescued from the trash. Her mother and uncle continued teaching her, and by the time she was a young teenager, she won an accordion contest in Santa Fe where she had competed against adults. She was also taught to play the guitar by her father. At the age of 18, she met her future husband Macario "Max" Apodaca, a fiddler from Carmen (a village near
Mora, New Mexico Mora or is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mora County, New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States o ...
) who had asked to join her parents' band. They married two months later and in 1949 settled in Wyoming where Max got a job in the uranium mines. They were to live in Wyoming for the next 30 years and raise their five children there. Max played with a band of German musicians in Wyoming for several years, and he and Antonia continued to perform together for both the Hispanic and Anglo communities at dances and local events. Apodaca later recalled how she and her husband had learned how to adapt the traditional Hispanic polkas and waltzes to a Western rhythm when they played for the Anglos.Smith, Vic (25 November 2003)
"Bayou Seco"
''Musical Traditions''. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
In 1979 the couple returned to Rociada to live in the house where Antonia was born and had grown up. Max Apodaca died in 1987 and after his death, Antonia ceased performing. A year later, the New Mexican folk violinist Cleofes Ortiz convinced her to return and she went on to perform extensively with ''Bayou Seco'' (the folk musicians Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie) and later formed her own group, ''Trio Jalapeño''. She was awarded the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1992, the same year she had appeared at the
Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the Fo ...
in Washington, D.C.. In December 2010, her house in Rociada burned to the ground destroying what the
National Hispanic Cultural Center The National Hispanic Cultural Center is an institution in Albuquerque, New Mexico dedicated to Hispanic culture, arts and humanities. The campus spans 20 acres and is located along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Avenida César Chá ...
termed "decades of musical history and treasured instruments." She escaped with only her guitar and two accordions. After the fire, Apodaca moved to nearby
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
and has continued to perform with ''Trio Jalapeño''. Their concerts often included her own compositions, of which one of the best known is "Estas Lindas Flores" (These Beautiful Flowers). In 2011 she was awarded the ''Premio Hilos Culturales'', an annual award presented to folk artists from New Mexico and Colorado "who have distinguished themselves in their communities as folk musicians or folk dancers of traditional southwest styles of ''Canciones Del Pasado'' or ''Bailes Antiguos''." Her son José Apodaca is a professional
zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...
singer and occasionally performed with his mother. Apodaca died in January 2020 at the age of 96.


Recordings

Apodaca's musical performances have been preserved on: *''Antonia Apodaca: Recuerdos di Rociada'' (UBIK Sound, 1991) *''Music of New Mexico: Hispanic Traditions'' (
Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was f ...
, 1992) *''Following in the tune prints with Bayou Seco: Old music in the new West'' (UBIK Sound, 1995) *''The American Fogies'', Volume One (
Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...
, 1996) *''La Música de los Viejitos: Hispano Folk Music of the Rio Grande Del Norte'' (book and accompanying CDs, University of New Mexico Press, 1999) *''Masters of New Mexico Traditional Folk Music – Hispanic and Native American'', CD 1
Gallup Gallup may refer to: * Gallup, Inc., a firm founded by George Gallup, well known for its opinion poll * Gallup (surname), a surname *Gallup, New Mexico, a city in New Mexico, United States ** Gallup station, an Amtrak train in downtown Gallup, New ...
Concert (New Mexico Arts, 2010) She was also the subject of the television documentary, ''El Ranchito De Las Flores'', broadcast in 1998 in the
KNME-TV KNME-TV (channel 5), branded New Mexico PBS or NM PBS, is a PBS member television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Jointly owned by the University of New Mexico and Albuquerque Public Schools, it is a sister station to Santa ...
series ''Colores''. Recordings of her spoken recollections are held in the University of New Mexico Oral History Projects collection 1984–1998.


References


External links


Video of Antonia Apodaca performing at the 2012 Festival of American Fiddle Tunes
on the official YouTube channel of the Music Box Project. In the video, she performs "Valsa de Jose y Rafaelita", the waltz written by her grandfathers for her parents' wedding.
Video of the television documentary on Antonia Apodaca, ''El Ranchito De Las Flores''
(originally broadcast in 1998) on the official YouTube channel of New Mexico Public Television. *Ortiz, Claudette (11 August 2008)
"A vote for Antonia Apodaca"
''
Las Cruces Sun-News ''Las Cruces Sun-News'', founded in 1881, is a daily newspaper published in Las Cruces, New Mexico. History The ''Sun-News'' started in 1881 as the ''Rio Grande Republican'' and went through several mergers to become the ''Las Cruces Daily News ...
'', a recollection of Antonia Apodaca and her house in Rociada. {{DEFAULTSORT:Apodaca, Antonia 1923 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American accordionists American women accordionists 21st-century American women musicians Guitarists from New Mexico American folk guitarists American women guitarists Folk musicians from New Mexico New Mexico music artists People from San Miguel County, New Mexico Songwriters from New Mexico 20th-century American women guitarists