Stephanie F. Valadez blended together her latin heritage with her experience in motherhood to compose a concert that embodies who she is. The Ph.D. student in Cross-Cultural Musicology with a designated emphasis in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies wrote Tenanan as a cross-disciplinary performance featuring spoken word, dance and music.
This free performance at the UC Santa Cruz Music Center Recital Hall, was organized by Valadez and Dr. Russell Rodriguez, an assistant professor of music. After its inception Tenanan was incorporated as part of a series of concerts for April in Santa Cruz, an annual series of performances organized by the Music Department. Valadez’s piece embodies themes of trans-cultural identity and representation.
As a Ph.D. student most of Valadez’s work comes in the form of writing, but she missed having opportunities to perform. Valadez and Rodríguez formed the Mecate Ensemble as a way to perform with graduate students, staff,faculty, and community members; most other ensembles on campus are targeted at undergraduates.
Valadez began working on Tenanan by looking at aspects of motherhood and parenthood as a whole. A mother of two, Valadez raises her children as a single parent during the school year. “There were a lot of complications that were coming up that I realized that people just didn’t understand,” she says. “A lot of times, parents don’t really express what they’re going through, and as children of parents we don’t give credit where credit is due.”
The performance intertwines aspects of childsplay and silliness with more adult themes including economic crises and economic instability. Parts composed by Valadez incorporate a number of voices, including one song in which the children of Family Student Housing residents say “I love you” to their parents in various languages. Not all of Tenanan is composed by Valadez, instead she incorporates arrangements of traditional lullabies and songs.
Tenanan was made possible with the help of the UC Santa Cruz Music Department and University of the Future, NOW! Scholarship, a program initiated by Dean Celine Parreñas Shimizu which encourages students to participate in the division’s aspirations to lead the nation in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion through the arts. This performance is open to the community and their families, which is starting earlier than other performances (typically shows start at 7:30 PM) to accommodate for children’s bedtimes.
“I think if people can appreciate their own parents, or themselves, or the relationship with their child, then it will benefit the greater community,” says Valadez. “In the long run, once these kids grow up they’re the people that are going to shape the world, the people that are going to be future leaders, future educators, future everything.”
Saturday, April 19, 2025 – 6:00 PM
Music Center Recital Hall
UC Santa Cruz Campus
400 McHenry Road
Santa Cruz, Calif. 95064
Free and open to the public
Audience Advisory – loud noises and adult themes