Multinational folk group finds unity through music

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This article was published 07/02/2025 (556 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With Canada and Mexico embroiled in a trade saga with the United States, a country whose sitting president threatens mass deportations, a newly formed local ensemble is promoting a more peaceful, unified and joyful form of international diplomacy through the medium of folk music.

Viento South, a group formed in Winnipeg last year by classically trained singer Paulina Gonzalez and guitarist Lucho Hermida, performs songs from their birthplaces of Mexico and Colombia, as well as Venezuela, Argentina, Canada and France.

“Just like the wind (viento) moves up from the south, we also came here,” says Gonzalez, who after moving to Winnipeg from Hermosillo, Mexico, completed her master’s degree in classical music at the University of Manitoba, studying voice with famed operatic soprano Tracy Dahl.

“Our whole idea as a group is mainly focused on being here in Canada as latinos and immigrants.”

The music they play reflects the experiences of arrival and cultural reconnection that each of the group’s members experienced in their migration journeys, exploring “how music can evolve in new lands while still retaining its roots,” she says.

While living in Mexico, Gonzalez’s perception of Canada was superb.

“Everyone there speaks so highly of Canada and Canadians in general,” says Gonzalez, who has lived here since 2017 and received her permanent residency certification in 2023.

After meeting Hermida last year, the two began playing Spanish and Latin music together, performing at the Osborne Taphouse’s Latin Music Night and at a Manitoba Music showcase at Park Alleys. Those performances showed the artists there was a market for their brand of folk music in Winnipeg, which led them to apply to the Manitoba Arts Council to fund a pair of “Travelling Songs” winter concerts.

Now featuring Ukrainian-born percussionist Tetyana Haraschuk, Colombian-born bassist Manuel Noriega and Interlake-raised fiddler Kaiti Rieder, Viento South is performing free on the WAG’s Ilipvik Learning Steps on Saturday at 2 p.m. At the same time on Feb. 15, the wind blows further south to Brandon University’s Lorne Recital Hall for another free show.

“The focus of the concerts is celebrating multiculturalism and immigration,” Gonzalez says. “We started planning long before anything was happening (with the trade war), so I think it comes at a very good time for people who need a break and want to appreciate not just immigrants, but all of the people who live in Canada. I think everybody can relate to our music.”

ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com