Music in the New World

Music in the New World explores the rich and surprising soundworld of the colonial Americas, where European sacred traditions encountered Indigenous, African, and local influences to create something entirely new. Led by Guest Musical Director Billy Traylor, Artistic Director of the Austin Baroque Orchestra, this program features the Oklahoma Baroque Orchestra and Choir in a vibrant survey of music drawn from cathedral archives in Mexico and Peru—much of it rarely performed today.

At the heart of the program are villancicos, hymns, responsories, and instrumental works by composers such as Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla, Antonio de Salazar, Manuel de Sumaya, Roque Ceruti, José Herrando, and others. These pieces reveal a musical culture that is both devout and theatrical, blending sacred texts with rhythmic vitality, vernacular expression, and vivid storytelling. Festive Christmas music, Marian works for the feasts of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Immaculate Conception, and a brilliant instrumental sinfonia all…