‘Queen of Mariachi’ Aída Cuevas to perform at UW

Cuevas also will give a free, public lecture at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, at in the UW College of Education auditorium. The lecture will be moderated by Sonia Rodriguez Hicks, an assistant professor in the UW Department of Modern and Classical Languages. The conversation will take place in Spanish, with English projections displayed onscreen, according to a news release.

Cuevas is one of the most important voices in traditional Mexican music. With a career spanning 46 years and 41 album releases to her credit, Cuevas, dubbed “The Queen of Mariachi,” is an esteemed figure in Mexico. She is beloved for her unswerving devotion to traditional mariachi music and for her mastery of its demanding vocal forms.

She has a new show and tour showcasing her unique voice and style and celebrating her long career and remarkable imprint on the history of Mexican music.

“Buchanan Center Special Events is extremely honored to welcome Aída Cuevas, a Mexican national icon, to the University of Wyoming for this special performance,” Lexis Hamilton, UW Fine Arts program manager, said in the release. “We have not had this high caliber of artist with such cultural importance in Laramie in a very long time.”

A master of the mariachi art song, Cuevas performs a full range of mariachi numbers, including the falsetto heavyweight “El Pastor”; the iconic hits “Te Doy Las Gracias” and “Quizás Mañana”; and new songs from “Totalmente Juan Gabriel, Vol. II,” including “Gracias Por Todo” and “Buscando el Séptimo Amor.” Cuevas also performs many ranchero classics, such as “Traición a Juan,” “Toro Relajo,” “Los Laureles” and “No Me Amenaces.”

Cuevas became the first female singer in the mariachi genre to win a Grammy Award when she was honored at the 2018 awards for “Best Regional Mexican Music Album” for her recording studio album “Arrieros Somos — Versiones Acústicas.” The album is a collection of acoustic versions of Mexican classics by renowned composer Cuco Sánchez. Cuevas previously won a Latin Grammy Award for “Best Tango Album” for her 2010 release, “De Corazón a Corazón … Mariachi Tango.” She has been honored with 11 Grammy Award nominations in the “Best Mariachi/Ranchero Album” category.

Cuevas’ latest releases, “Antología de la Música Ranchera, Vol. I” and “Vol. 2,” were produced during the pandemic and received Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

“This engagement celebrates and recognizes those of Latin and Hispanic heritage in Laramie and its surrounding communities while inspiring women to pursue their passion in a male-dominated field,” Hamilton says.

The event is supported by the UW College of Arts and Sciences and the UW Multicultural Affairs office as well as by a grant from the Wyoming Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming Legislature.

First introduced in fall 2022, UW’s Buchanan Center Special Events grew out of the previous Cultural Programs and UW Events series. Currently in its second season and housed in Fine Arts Outreach, Buchanan Center Special Events is committed to bringing new, culturally relevant and unique arts experiences to the UW campus and broader Laramie and Wyoming communities to expand and elevate the programming available to students and community members.