BUA’s rondalla hits right note at BWA

SAN ANTONIO—The Baptist University of the Américas’ Rondalla de las Américas represented Latin America at the Baptist World Alliance’s recent Window on the World Concert.

Most of the students in the group had never been to Washington, D.C. But most of the audience that heard them perform had never heard rondalla music, either.

The Rondalla de las Américas performs traditional and contemporary Mexican Christian music, primarily on guitars of various sizes. All compositions are written and performed in Spanish.

At the BWA concert, in addition to Mexican compositions, the rondalla performed a piece from South América that included a quena (Andean flute), charango (small Andean guitar) and bombo (drum).

BUA’s Rondalla de las Américas was the only performing group not based in the Washington, D.C. The BUA group made a 30-hour drive each way to participate in the concert at Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Va., a prelude to the BWA executive committee’s meeting.

In the course of the concert, regional secretaries for each of the BWA’s six geographic divisions brought greetings from his or her part of the world. Each greeting was then followed by music representative of that region. 

“It was inspiring to hear greetings from our Baptist brothers and sisters from around the world. Particularly moving were the words of Alberto Prokopchuk, regional secretary from Latin America, as he had just arrived from Chile and was visibly affected by the destruction and suffering resulting from the earthquakes in that country,” said Maria Monteiro, the rondalla’s director.

In addition to the Rondalla, other groups and individuals presented music representative of Korea, Zambia, Jamaica/Trinidad, Latvia/Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

“It was a great opportunity for our students to interact with people from all over the world, as well as see some of the places where American history is made and celebrated,” Monteiro added.

During blocks of free time, BUA students visited the Washington Cathedral, the Holocaust Museum and all the major memorials.  They also saw the White House, the Washington Monument and the Capitol building.

“It was an unforgettable experience to get to visit the historic places in the nation’s capital and to get to know musicians representing so many other cultures,” said Antonio Santillan.

Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana and Trinity Baptist Church, both in San Antonio, and the Racial, Ethnic, Multicultural Network of the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education helped fund the trip, along with BUA.

The rondalla was invited to the concert after Lyuba Dovgalyuk, a member of McLean Baptist Church and a BWA ambassador, heard them perform at the New Baptist Covenant Celebration in Atlanta.