Monday nights at Halcyon might be the closest thing Austin has to a United Nations. Representatives from Mexico, China, India, Lebanon, and a dozen other countries come together. But then instead of debating global policy, they play music. Because this is Austin, after all.
The weekly international gathering was founded a year and a half ago by Roberto Riggio—a violinist who grew up in Mexico City and the Rio Grande Valley, before moving to Austin to study Indian and Middle Eastern music at the University of Texas. The Halcyon night is like a workshop, Riggio says, and a chance for Austin-based musicians from a wide variety of backgrounds to explore how music traditions from all over the world collide and overlap.
Today we drop in on a recent evening at Halcyon and learn more about how the World Music Night got started.
[audio:https://kutx.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/HALCYON-FOR-TMM.mp3]The Halcyon World Music Night draws musicians from a variety of musical groups around town, including Layalina, Mauricio Callejas, Kiko Y La Banda, Riyaaz, Trio Los Vigilantes, Juan de los Angeles, Leticia Rodriguez, Fared Shufinary, and Atlas Maior. The gathering has also spawned a new band called the Austin Global Orchestra, which is dedicated to bridging cultural boundaries through music.
KUTX’s Texas Music Matters is partnering with the national Localore initiative and Zeega to create the Austin Music Map: a yearlong effort to go beyond the well-traveled streets of the Austin music scene in search of the hidden places where music is being made. We want your help discovering and documenting these places! To find out how to get involved, visit the Austin Music Map website or call our hotline with stories and tips: (512) 861-8266.