Opera for My Raza: A José Montoya Suite of Music, Poetry, and Art brings together the poetry and visual art of Chicano artist and writer José Montoya in a richly interdisciplinary presentation. Montoya’s “Canciones del Barrio” is set to music by composer Thomas Pasatieri, originally premiered in 1991 in UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall and performed again there in 2018. The 2018 performance also featured “La yarda de la escuelita,” a poem by Montoya narrated by Raúl Pérez and accompanied by an instrumental ensemble of UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology faculty.

Both works are included in this recording, available on CD and USB flash drive in the same package. Also featured are the texts of the poems alongside reproductions of Montoya’s drawings and paintings, offering a multifaceted engagement with his artistic legacy.

Published by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Press and UCLA Ethnomusicology Publications and funded by the UCLA Center for Latino Arts.

(2023) $25