DATES - March 22-29 2027
VENUE -Oaxaca City
LEADERS - Roxana Mendoza, Wilmia Verrier Quiñones, Maribel Sanchez, Feliciano Carrasco Regalado, Vicente Marcial, Yasbil Mendoza Huerta, Karla Mundy
COST - $2100 CAD + $150 Registration Fee + GST (double occupancy)
-$2525 CAD + $150 Registration Fee + GST (single occupancy)
WHO - This trip is tailored for confident singers who are comfortable learning by ear and written music.
REGISTRATION WILL OPEN AUGUST 22nd at 1:00 pm PST and Applications will be reviewed and accepted based on voice part and experience level.
Join us for an exciting 7 day vocal and cultural intensive in Oaxaca City! This trip will be an amazing learning opportunity and an introduction into the rich cultural world of Oaxaca.
We will be forming a choir and rehearsing throughout the week with Vilmia Querrer Quiñones. We will be working on Mexican choral music and in particular, new arrangements based on traditional Oaxacan songs of the Istmo style accompanied by a symphonic brass orchestra. Oaxaca has an incredibly rich and diverse musical culture and below are some of the activities we have planned.
6-7 Rehearsals with Wilmia Verrier Quiñones- workshop on traditional Zapotec language
- a workshop in "Tuna" music (traditional of parading music from 13th Century Spain) and participating in the wandering musical event.
- Oaxacan music history explorations with Yasbil
- shared performance with local Oaxacan choirs
- host and participate in a fandango veritas (a traditional Mexican party with a band and dancing)
Outside of workshops, we will spend some time exploring the city and have these events planned for the group.
- visit to Monte Alban
- visit to Roxana & Yasbil's home village of Macuilxochitl for a traditional culinary experience. We will be introduced to traditional recipes and get to learn about the preparation of the food.
- attend a performance of Guelaguetza to experience regional dances of Oaxaca.
time off to explore markets, restaurants, cafe and the historic downtown of Oaxaca.- mezcal tasting
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Cost will include full tuition, accommodations, transportation and some of our meals! Cost is based on double occupancy. There are some limited single rooms available for an extra cost of $425.
Not included are flights to and from Oaxaca.
We will meet on March 22nd in Oaxaca for a big group meal and our first evening together and our final planned event will be March 28th with March 29th being check out/travel day.
INSTRUCTORS
WILMIA VERRIER QUIÑONES
Wilmia Verrier Quiñones is a Cuban choral director based in Mexico. She is known for her innovative programming and for her commitment to breaking with the traditional and static form of the choral groups she directs.
She has received several awards throughout her career as a singer and choir director. She has given workshops, conferences, master classes and courses in different countries.
Wilmia was a professor at the main conservatories and musical institutions in Havana. She now teaches Choral Conducting at the Music Department of the University of Guadalajara, Jalisco and is the director of their chamber choir and of the choirs of the Beckmann Foundation, in Mexico.
Wilmia is a member of the International Federation for World Choral Singing (IFCM) since 2022.
She is also the creator and artistic director of FICFE International Festival of Female Choirs in Latin America since 2018, together with her colleagues Fabiana Solana and Maria Eugenia “Loky” Travaglia. Wilmia currently directs Coro Femenina Mahayuel in Guadalajara
ROXANA MENDOZA HUERTA
ROXANA MENDOZA-HUERTA is originally from Oaxaca, Mexico. She is the founder of "Fomento al Canto Coral México", an organization with 10 years of existence, in charge of investigating, disseminating and transmitting Mexican choral music nationally and internationally. She studied Music-musicology at the Lumière Lyon 2 University in France and at the same time began her studies in Choral Conducting at the National School of Music in Villeurbanne, France. She has a degree in Art Education from the Autonomous University of Querétaro, Mexico and Applicant to the master's degree in Research and Musical Creation in Traditional Arts. She has led the Choral Direction of various choral projects, such as "Choirs and Orchestras for the Prevention of Crime", "Children's and Youth Choirs of the Artistic Linkage Unit of UNAM", "Community Choirs and Orchestras "Voices in Movement" , Choirs and Orchestras of the New School, Virtual Choir of the Ministry of Culture, among others. She is currently the Director of the Sa'Nashi Female Ensemble and Director of the Children's Choir of the Children's Orchestra of the Federal Educational Authority of Mexico City .
MARIBEL SANCHEZ
Maribel Sanchez will be giving us workshops on the History of the Vocal music of the Istmeña tradition.
Maribel is a singer, choir director, stage producer and cultural organizer.
For 16 years Maribel was the Artistic Co-ordinator, Choral Director and voice teacher for the Casa de la Cultura Oaxaqueña.
FELICIANO CARRASCO REGALADO
Feliciano Carrasco Regalado is a Zapotec singer-songwriter, guitarist, and cultural promoter from Juchitán, Oaxaca. For decades, he has disseminated traditional and contemporary music in the Zapotec language, strengthening cultural identity through his compositions, performances, and artistic presentations. His body of work includes five albums produced by various institutions in Mexico, contributing to the preservation and promotion of the musical heritage of Indigenous peoples.
Feliciano will be teaching us about the phonetics and diction of the Zapoteco language in relation to the Istmo songs we will be singing.
PRE STUDY ZOOM CLASS
Leading up to the trip we will also have a pre-trip study zoom session with Vicente Marcial Cerqueda - a great scholar of Istmeña and Zapotec culture. After registration is complete we will send out the date for the Zoom session - likely in early 2027. The session will also be recorded and sent out if anyone has to miss.
Vicente Marcial Cerqueda is a Zapotec writer, educator and linguist from Oaxaca who works to protect indigenous rights, promote bilingual and cross cultural projects and preserve and promote the Isthmus Zapotec language.
TRIP ORGANIZERS
YASBIL YANIL BERENICE MENDOZA HUERTA
A graduate in linguistics, Yasbil graduated from the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH) and master in Ethnomusicology, at the National Faculty of
Music (FAM) from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
She is the winner of the “Wigberto Jiménez Moreno” Award for the best thesis.
degree in linguistics 2010 from the National Institute of Anthropology and
History (INAH). She has studied as a violist at the Faculty of UNAM music and has performed in several traditional Mexican music ensembles and in symphony orchestras as a violist & violinist.
Yasbil has published various articles and books on music, anthropology and linguistics edited by the INAH, the UNAM, the Ministry of Public Education (SEP), the Colegio de Michoacán (COLMICH) and the Ministry of Culture of the City of
Mexico. She worked as head of the sociolinguistic research department
of the National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI). She currently works as
professor-researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
Yasbil co-ordinates the ethnomusicological and linguistic investigation for all of the SongRoutes Binational encounters with Mexico. She connects us with musical and linguistic experts in every place that we visit and has co-ordinated many of our activities in Oaxaca.
KARLA MUNDY
Karla Mundy is a vibrant, soulful and diverse vocalist, pianist, arranger and choir leader. Karla directs three community choirs in Vancouver and Vancouver Island - Rhythm 'n' Roots, City Soul Choir and Island Soul Choir. She leads harmony singing workshops throughout BC and organizes many singing camps, workshops and singing study trips abroad. Karla is a founding member of the No Sh!t Shirleys, TriVo, Cleia, Plough, Tanglewood Trio and Big Whoop! Karla is passionate about teaching harmony singing, getting the music off the page and digging deep into new musical territory.
In 2014, Karla realized her dream of creating an intensive singer's camp on the West Coast. After years of attending music camps with strong instrumental programs, she was convinced that there was a need and a desire for a retreat focused on singing where students could explore their voices and different styles with a faculty of amazing vocalists. SongRoots Summer Camp was born that summer and 2026 marks the 13th time singers have gathered on Gambier Island for a glorious week of singing exploration, artistic renewal and community celebration.
In 2017, Karla began leading SongRoutes trips and has now organized trips to North Carolina, New Orleans, Cuba and Mexico and has collaborated with Village Harmony to take groups to the Republic of Georgia, South Africa and Corsica . She is thrilled to be returning to Mexico to work with Roxana again!
ENCUENTROS BINACIONAL
SongRoutes Oaxaca 2027 marks the 5th project in the series of Binational Encounters with Mexico and Canada (Encuentros Binacional). These experiences have been put together by Roxana Mendoza Huerta and Karla Mundy with so much guidance and help from Roxana's sister - Yasbil Mendoza Huerta.
These projects were started with the hope of deepening musical and artistic ties between Canada and Mexico, of developing greater cultural understanding and fostering new friendships. The cultural world of 
Mexico is endlessly rich and fascinating and it is an amazing opportunity for learning, singing, collaborating and creating bonds of friendships between two countries that are so close and with such deep possibilities of partnership. We began in Jan 2024 with our first trip to Mexico City where Roxana and Karla met in person for the first time and it has blossomed into an incredibly rewarding artistic exploration and a deep friendship and trust. We have now run two trips to Mexico City (2024 and 2026), one to Oaxaca (2025) and we will be going to Veracruz in Nov 2026. This trip to Oaxaca will be our fifth collaboration and we continue to break new ground, expand the collaborations, work with more and more Mexican composers, teachers, musicians, singers and culture bearers.