HOUSE MEMORIAL 22

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

Debbie A. Rodella and Nick L. Salazar

A MEMORIAL

RECOGNIZING AND HONORING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF CIPRIANO FREDERICO VIGIL, PH.D.

     WHEREAS, Cipriano Frederico Vigil, Ph.D., is the most important performer of traditional Nuevomexicano folk music in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries; and

     WHEREAS, his life's work spans half a century of playing, composing and singing ritual, social and dance music; and

     WHEREAS, Cipriano was born and raised in the small village of Chamisal, New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, he received a baccalaureate degree in music education and a master's degree in bilingual education from New Mexico highlands university; and

     WHEREAS, in Mexico, Cipriano was awarded a scholarship by the Mexican government to the national institute of fine arts where, in 1988, he obtained a second master's degree in ethnomusicology; and

     WHEREAS, Cipriano began his career as a professor at northern New Mexico college in 1980, was named the chairperson of the fine arts department and completed his doctorate in ethnomusicology in 1988 and retired from the college in 2004; and

     WHEREAS, because of his love for music and teaching, Cipriano continues to work at northern New Mexico college as a part-time instructor in folk music; and

     WHEREAS, renowned as a composer, Cipriano works in traditional genres such as romance, décima, cuando and corrido; and

     WHEREAS, he has performed traditional New Mexican folk music as well as la nueva canción, new songs in a style that originated in South America; and

     WHEREAS, his early background and training in music instilled in Cipriano a passion for preserving and disseminating the folk music of northern New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, Cipriano has presented thousands of performances and workshops, including to elementary classrooms in New Mexico, cowboy poetry gatherings in Elko, Nevada, and the Smithsonian institution in Washington, D.C.; and

     WHEREAS, Cipriano has produced a four-volume set of traditional New Mexican folk music, a self-published collection of his own compositions, a manuscript of sixty-seven of his compositions for violin and guitar and compositions for theatrical performances and films; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico press is currently publishing a book Cipriano wrote about the folklore of New Mexico, to be accompanied by twenty-one compact discs; and

     WHEREAS, in his many presentations to local schools, Cipriano brings part of his collection of more than three hundred musical instruments from around the world; and

     WHEREAS, Cipriano has been recognized by the New Mexico endowment for the humanities and the Smithsonian institution; and

     WHEREAS, Cipriano has been honored as a living treasure, received the New Mexico governor's award in 1994 and, in 2017, was recognized by Governor Susana Martinez for his significant musical contributions and advancements made to the cultural education, identity and pride in the lives of New Mexico's children and many communities; and

     WHEREAS, Cipriano's son, Cipriano Pablo Vigil, and his daughter, Felicita Vigil Pinon, have performed with him in concerts for over twenty-five years, and recently, his granddaughter, Marisol Vigil, and his grandsons, Matzael Pinon and Alonzo Vigil, have been performing with Cipriano as well;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that Cipriano Frederico Vigil, Ph.D., be recognized and honored for his significant contributions to creating and preserving New Mexico folk music; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to Cipriano Frederico Vigil, Ph.D.

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