Latin American Music Center celebrates 50th anniversary

The IU Latin American Music Center will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a Valentine’s Day weekend performance today.

The Latin American Popular Music Ensemble will perform “Bésame Mucho, the Greatest Latin Love Songs of All Time” at 8 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.
The concert is free and open to the public.

The IU Latin American Music Center was founded in 1961 by Jacobs School of Music professor Emeritus Juan Orrego-Salas. The center is the oldest one of its kind in the United States.

For the 2011 celebration, there will be a Latin-American music recording competition, performances and lectures with guest artists throughout the year. The center will continue to expand its library and encourage more exchanges between Latin American music scholars and performers in the nation and around the world.