December 12, 2015 – Las Cruces, NM - On this edition of PUENTES, bridges to the community, host Emily Guerra meets with Voz Vaqueros Board President, Robert Hulsman, and Music Director/Conductor, Eric Sletten, to talk to us about the Voz Vaqueros 45th Annual Christmas Concert Series. “Voz Vaqueros” (Spanish for singing cowboys) are “The Singing Men of Las Cruces. The all men’s group began in 1970 by founding conductor, George Jarden, with their first concert at the First Presbyterian Church in Las Cruces. Since then they have performed nearly 600 concerts and produced several
Hulsman joined Voz Vaqueros in 1980, and Sletten joined the group in 1988 when he was fourteen years old, he is still the youngest in the group. They will perform several traditional Christmas songs, along with a Southwest favorite, “Ven A Mi Casa” (Spanish for “come to my house”), and a not so familiar song, “His Borning Day,” done in the style of a “sea chanting” like sailors in the old days would sing when they were on their ships at Christmas.
The Voz Vaqueros 45th Annual Christmas Concert Series is free to the public and will begin at Good Samaritan Society Auditorium on Saturday, December 12th at 6:30 p.m.; then, for the first time, they will perform at Holy Cross Retreat Center on Sunday, December 13th at 6 p.m.; on Tuesday, December 15th at 7 p.m. they will be at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church; and will finish their concert series on Wednesday, December 16th at 7 p.m. at St. Mary’s at Hill Anglican Church. Donations are appreciated, and CD’s are available at each concert.
They are currently seeking new members. Anyone interested in singing with Voz Vaqueros, The Singing Men of Las Cruces, please contact Bob Hulsman at 526-6307 or at his email – RnLHlsmn@q.com; or Eric Sletten at cymrudewin@yahoo.com.