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October 1 Juan Díes Returns with Corridos of the Semiquincentennial
U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera (left) with Juan Díes in 2015. Photo by Stephen Winick Corridos of the Semiquincentennial: Voices of Courage and Hope "Corridos of the Semiquincentennial: Voices of Courage and Hope" is a musical storytelling project developed by Juan Díes, a 2026 National Heritage Fellow and a member of the Sones de México Ensemble, to honor eight national heroes through the creation and performance of eight new traditional Mexican corridos. Corridos are epic ballads and heroic tales that date back to the 1840s. They narrate stories and celebrate remarkable acts of courage and defiance from a folk perspective. For this performance, Juan Díes has written corridos for Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Dorothy Day, Joseph H. De Castro, Mary Fields, Muhammad Ali, Roberto Clemente, and Woody Guthrie—all heroes in the United States of America. Join us for a family-friendly presentation of these and other corridos, narrated in English and Spanish, combining live music, storytelling, visuals, and audience interaction. Juan Díes is a folklorist, ethnomusicologist, and co-founder of the Grammy- and Latin Grammy-nominated Sones de México. He is a 2026 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship--the nation's highest honor in the traditional arts. In 2015, Díes led a corrido-writing workshop at the American Folklife Center and performed the resulting corrido at the Library of Congress with U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera. This performance is free and open to the public but registration is required. Accessible seating is available upon request. Please request ADA accommodations at least five days in advance by contacting 202-707-6362 or ada@loc.gov. This concert is presented in collaboration with the Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington, DC. The American Folklife Center is hosting this event as part of its Homegrown Concert Series and in celebration of the Center’s 50th anniversary. This program is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, in celebration of Freedom250.
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