The University of Arkansas Latin American Ensemble and the Thaden Community Youth Orchestra will perform together Monday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. atFaulkner Performing Arts Center in Fayetteville. Admission is free, but tickets must be reserved at tickets.uark.edu. The program mixes Latin and chamber music, from “Oye Como Va” to Brahms’ Symphony No. 1. About 40 youth orchestra members from about 10 Northwest Arkansas schools will play alongside the 12-member UofA ensemble. The Latin American Ensemble won a 2026 DownBeat Student Music Award for outstanding performance, its second since 2024.
Kyle Kellams: The Monday Music Series at the University of Arkansas continues Monday night at Faulkner Performing Arts Center on the UofA campus. The UA Latin Music Ensemble will share the stage with the Thaden School Community Youth Orchestra for a mix of Latin and chamber music.
This morning, Fernando Valencia, director of the UA Latin Music Ensemble, and Jon Merz, Thaden School music faculty member and one of the directors of the Thaden School Community Youth Orchestra, were both in our studio to give us a preview and to discuss how Monday night’s concert developed.
Jon Merz: I believe this collaboration came together, Fernando and one of the other orchestra directors, Paulina Baylor, I think you all kind of talked about this and kind of dreamed it up. And then we decided we were going to do it.
We booked it and then the Thaden Community Youth Orchestra, we’ve been rehearsing on our own. We rehearse on Monday evenings. And then Fernando’s group has been rehearsing independently as well. And then we had our first rehearsal together last Monday. Everything came together. And so now we’re going to perform these pieces this next Monday.
Fernando Valencia: Yeah. It’s just another example of modern music collaborations where we’re all celebrating and we talk about the repertoire, each one rehearse our own arrangements and then we put it together in one rehearsal.
Kellams: OK. You make that sound so easy. You know, we just talk about it, and then we just do it. I mean, it’s not that easy, is it?
Valencia: Well, I have been going to Thaden for quite a while to talk and perform music and some of the classes of Paulina. And so through those conversations, she came with the idea like, “Well, we do a collaboration and kind of showcase a little bit of Latin music and Hispanic Heritage Month.”
And so, yeah, we were lucky to actually get Oct. 12, Indigenous People Day. So yeah, it’s going to be great.
Kellams: Community is in the name of the orchestra. How’s that represented?
Merz: Yeah, so it’s called the Community Youth Orchestra. But it is not just for Thaden students. It is open to all students across the Northwest Arkansas region. So I believe we have students from about 10 different schools, including, we’ve got homeschooled students that come together to make up our community youth orchestra.
Kellams: Tell me about the repertoire. How was it decided what would be on the program?
Valencia: It’s going to be an interesting program because it’s going to be side by side. So the Latin American ensemble students are going to sit in with the students of the community orchestra to perform some pieces. Big orchestra pieces. They’re going to play some chamber music as well. So we do. So it’s going to be a little bit of back and forth and interesting flow in the concert.
And the last piece is going to be all together performing an arrangement of three very popular pieces in the U.S., “El Cerro de la Loma” and “Oye Como Va.” So if you guys know the song, you should be there.
Kellams: How many musicians will be on stage?
Merz: They are about 70 or so. I think we’ve got about 40 in our youth orchestra and you all have about
Valencia: Ensemble is 12.
Merz: Twelve, OK. So yeah, 50 to 60.
Kellams: Let me ask about the 2026 DownBeat Award.
Valencia: Yeah. That’s our second one. The first one was the 2024 as a winner. And this year what we do is we submit an audio recording, sometimes a video recording, and it’s evaluated by a committee at the national level. And this year we got the outstanding performance for that.
We submitted three pieces. And one of those pieces is a piece of mine titled “Chobita.” And then, yeah, that was just great news. And it’s all about the hard work and all the time these people putting into it.
Kellams: The composition also earned you a silver medal, right?
Valencia: Yes. Yeah. For the Global awards.
Kellams: Wow.
Valencia: And that’s another international committee that evaluates those tunes.
Kellams: What I love about Monday night’s program in Faulkner Center is when I look at the program, I think this should have been happening for decades. I’m glad it’s happening now. It’s a program that includes “Killer Tango” and Brahms Symphony No. 1. It’s all music, right?
Merz: Yeah. So it’s a diverse lineup. But yeah, it is part of this Hispanic Heritage Month concert series. Or this is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. But we’re also featuring Mozart, Brahms, it’s a whole lineup. Should be a great night of music.
Kellams: Also, the program features a lot of arranged by the two of you and Paulina. What does that take to make an arrangement ready for an audience to hear?
Valencia: Yeah, that’s a great question because it comes as a musical idea. And then some of the questions are, OK, who are we arranging for? And what are the levels of the people that are going to perform it and the range of some instruments. So we end up arranging, but also adapting the music.
So in the rehearsal that we have together, we have a chance to play through. And yeah, there’s also a lot of time consuming. But I mean, I do it because I love it and I love to see the result of it.
Kellams: What’s the value of very young musicians being on the Faulkner Performing Arts stage, especially with older musicians there beside them?
Merz: Well, it’s a beautiful venue, right? It’s great for them to get to go to a new venue to play. We host a lot of our Thaden Community Youth Orchestra’s concerts at Thaden School, which is, we also have a beautiful performing arts center.
But then the other value is, yeah, having them play with the UofA students who are just incredible students. So they get to hear what they’re kind of shooting for if they continue on with their musical studies into college.
Kellams: I want to ask about one other piece that’s going to be performed Monday night, “In Flight.” What can you tell us about that?
Valencia: “In Flight” is under the umbrella of Latin jazz. It’s written by Eddie Palmieri, a great pianist who grew up in the U.S. from Puerto Rican background. So he carries all of the Latin tradition into it and fusion with the elements of jazz.
And it’s a really cool piece. It’s kind of like a slow pachanga infused with some real nice jazzy chords and funky treatment to it. So we love that piece. The students love to perform it.
Kellams: Faulkner Performing Arts Center Monday night, 7:30. First tune. Is that right?
Valencia: Yes.
Kellams: How can people reserve a place?
Valencia: Easy. They’re going to go to tickets.uark.edu. They’re free. You just have to click on the link and get a QR code. So it is free, but you have to go to the website and get the tickets.
Kellams: But free. That’s a heck of a deal.
Valencia: Yeah. To have a good time. I’ll do it.
Kellams: All right. One last kind of silly question. Let’s say it’s 7:25. You’re getting ready. Do you experience any kind of, I don’t know about butterflies, but is your adrenaline up a little bit?
Valencia: Yes, it is. I mean, even though you try to cover all of the details that go into it, there is always surprises. So yeah, at the end of the day, those become like part of the excitement of it. Those things that happen the minutes before.
Merz: Yeah. Especially since we’ve only had one rehearsal together. The final piece I think will really keep all of us on our toes. And that does just add to the excitement of the live performance.
Valencia: Exactly.
Kellams: I can’t wait to hear it. Thank you both for coming in.
Merz: Thank you.
Valencia: Thanks for having us.
Kellams: Jon Merz is one of the directors of the Thaden School Community Youth Orchestra. Fernando Valencia is director of the University of Arkansas Latin Music Ensemble. The ensembles will share the stage at Faulkner Performing Arts Center Monday night at 7:30. It’s the next concert in the University of Arkansas Monday Music Ensemble. Our conversation took place this morning in the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio.
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