El SurCo
El SurCo is a musical collective that blends guitars, violin, charango, bombo, and vocal harmonies to bring to life chacareras, cuecas, chamamés, gatos, and other popular and folk stringed music traditions from Argentina, Chile, and surrounding regions. The word surco means groove in Spanish, and references the furrows where seeds are planted in agricultural fields. A musical term with a rural subtext that speaks to the landscape where many of these styles emerged and continue to thrive, El SurCo (or The Southern Collective) transport their listeners into the diverse and vibrant musical ecosystems of the Southern tip of the Americas. El SurCo is composed of Maxi Larrea (guitar, vocals, bombo), Jennie Gubner (violin, vocals, bombo), Andres Pantoja (guitar, charango, bombo, vocals), and Diana Peralta (vocals, bombo).
Maxi Larrea is a tango and folk guitarist, arranger, composer and music educator from Rosario Argentina. He has been recording, performing and touring internationally for over 20 years. In 2020 he released a solo album of tango and folklore original compositions called Donde Termina el Río/Where the River Ends, and in 2021 received a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts to publish a book of tango sheet music for guitar. In 2023 he was the recipient of a Southwest Folklife Alliance Master Artist Award.
Jennie Gubner is a PhD ethnomusicologist, violinist, and visual ethnographer who works at the University of Arizona as an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology and Chair of the Applied Intercultural Arts Research Graduate Interdisciplinary Program. Having spent years in Buenos Aires performing and researching the politics and poetics of participatory tango music scenes, her research and performance activities leverage Latin American music and cultural organizing practices to promote intergenerational wellbeing and community building.
Andrés Pantoja is a versatile Chilean musician, he plays classical, flamenco and Latin American music, guitar and charango. He has played in the USA, South America, and Europe and has recorded 8 albums. He holds a Masters and Doctoral degree in Guitar performance from the University of Arizona.
Diana Peralta is an opera singer from Mexico City, currently pursuing her DMA in Voice Performance at the University of Arizona. Alongside her love of opera, she holds a deep appreciation for Latin American folk and popular music, and has been especially inspired as an artist by the political song movements of the 1960s and ‘70s.