Quad City Arts Visiting Artists Jarabe Mexicano -- April 5 through 7.

PASS Performance: Thursday, April 7, 6:30 p.m.

Mercado on Fifth, 1122 Fourth Avenue, Moline IL

Abbreviated Performances: Tuesday, April 5, through Thursday, April 7

Various Area Locations

Lauded by cultural anthropologist and noted author Alejandro Lugo as musicians who are “truly excellent and bring new blood to the musical traditions they perform,” the artists of Jarabe Mexicano will perform a quartet of concert events as the latest guests in Quad City Arts' Visiting Artist Series, their April 5 through 7 designed to bridge the frontiers between musical genres, diverse cultures, and generations.

Jarabe Mexicano invites audiences on a joyride through a versatile songbook of Mexican folk music as well as rock 'n' roll, Tex-Mex, Latin rock, and reggae-cumbia. Performing on stringed folk instruments accompanied by lively percussion, the ensemble's dramatic, harmonized vocals in Spanish and English have gained them the admiration of audiences across the country. A trans-border resident who serves as Jarabe Mexicano's lead vocalist and managing director, Gustavo "Tavo" Alcoser, Jr. received his Associates degree from Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California, and went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts in Music from San Diego State University, with a minor in Latin American Studies. Trained as a classical vocalist, Alcoser was a founding member of the SDSU Chamber Choir and the San Diego Pro Arte Voices professional choral ensemble.

Alcoser performs in Jarabe Mexicano alongside bandmates José Martín Márquez on requinto, Kevin Lomes on vihuela, Chris Behrens on guitarrón, and the group's musical director Danny Brito on percussion. For the members of Jarabe Mexicano, every performance, wherever they go, is an opportunity to create a deeper and more inclusive sense of family and community. As advocates for the arts and education and with a special commitment to underserved communities, the band's musicians have forged fruitful collaborations with an array of both public and private organizations, academic institutions, and government entities.

During their area stay as Quad City Arts Visiting Artists, Jarabe Mexicano will deliver a full PASS performance at Moline's Mercado on Fifth at 6:30 p.m. on April 7 (admission $50). Three additional abbreviated concerts, all of them free, will be also performed during the week: at the Rock Island Public Library's downtown branch at noon on April 5; at Moline's Butterworth Center at 3 p.m. on April 5; and at Muscatine's Wesley United Methodist Church at 2 p.m. on April 7.

For more information on Jarabe Mexicano's area performances and the Visiting Artists series, call (309)793-1213 and visit QuadCityArts.com.

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