Estevan Azcona
- Assistant Research Social Scientist
- Assistant Professor, Mexican American Studies
Contact
- (520) 621-2484
- Little Chapel of All Nations, Rm. 107
- Tucson, AZ 85721
- estevanazcona@arizona.edu
Biography
Estevan Azcona has been active in the world of Chicano/Latino arts and culturefor over twenty years as a scholar, arts presenter, and musician. Azcona is
Assistant Research Social Scientist at the University of Arizona's Southwest
Center and Assistant Professor of Mexican American Studies. Azcona's research and teaching interests lie at the intersections of Chicano/Latino music history and folklore, Latin American ethnomusicology, and borderlands anthropology and history. He is particularly interested in how ethnic Mexican music-making in the U.S. represents processes of cultural and political change and exchange. Utilizing ethnographic and archival methodologies, his work has documented cultural histories of Chicana/o music-making and cross-border practices of Mexican regional music traditions in the U.S. He is also co- producer of the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings release, Rolas de Aztlán: Songs of the Chicano Movement.
Azcona served as a performance and arts curator in Houston, Texas for numerous Latina/o arts projects and organizations and served nationally as curator, consultant, and panelist for local and national arts service organizations, including National Performance Network (NPN) and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC). He directed the University of Texas mariachi ensemble and was founding member of Austin-based Mexican son group, Mitote.
Azcona studied Ethnomusicology and Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin where he received his doctoral degree. He has taught ethnomusicology
and Chicano/Latino music, history, and culture at University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University, DePauw University, University of Houston, and San José State University prior to his appointment at University of Arizona.
Degrees
- Ph.D. Ethnomusicology/Musicology
- University of Texas, Austin, Texas, United States
- Movements in Chicano Music: Performing Politics, Performing Culture, 1965-1979
- B.A. Music (Ethnomusicology)
- University of California, Santa Barbara, California, United States
Work Experience
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (2022 - Ongoing)
- San José State University (2018 - 2022)
- Alley Theatre; Texas Folklife; CMAS, University of Houston (2018)
- CMAS, University of Houston (2011 - 2017)
- Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA) (2010 - 2017)
- CMAS, University of Houston (2008 - 2010)
- University of Texas, Austin, Texas (2004 - 2006)
- DePauw University (2002 - 2004)
- Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana (2000)
- University of Texas, Austin, Texas (1996 - 2000)
Interests
Research
Chicanx/Latinx music and folklife; Latin American ethnomusicology; history and anthropology of borderlands; arts and social movements; critical ethnic studies Geographical Specialist: U.S. Southwest and U.S.–Mexico Borderlands Generalist: Mexico and Latin America
Teaching
Chicanx/Latinx music and folklife; Latin American ethnomusicology; history and anthropology of borderlands; arts and social movements
Courses
2025-26 Courses
-
Social Justice
MAS 150B2 (Fall 2025) -
The Chicano Movement
MAS 350 (Fall 2025)
2024-25 Courses
-
Independent Study
MAS 599 (Spring 2025) -
Mexican American Culture
ANTH 319 (Spring 2025) -
Mexican American Culture
LAS 319 (Spring 2025) -
Mexican American Culture
MAS 319 (Spring 2025) -
Social Justice
MAS 150B2 (Fall 2024) -
The Chicano Movement
MAS 350 (Fall 2024)
2023-24 Courses
-
Mexican American Culture
ANTH 319 (Spring 2024) -
Mexican American Culture
LAS 319 (Spring 2024) -
Mexican American Culture
MAS 319 (Spring 2024) -
Pop Cult/Media+Latin Id
MAS 150C1 (Fall 2023) -
The Chicano Movement
MAS 350 (Fall 2023)
2022-23 Courses
-
Mexican American Culture
ANTH 319 (Spring 2023) -
Mexican American Culture
LAS 319 (Spring 2023) -
Mexican American Culture
MAS 319 (Spring 2023) -
Social Justice
MAS 150B2 (Fall 2022) -
The Chicano Movement
MAS 350 (Fall 2022)
Scholarly Contributions
Presentations
- Azcona, E. (2022, November). “Soy del pueblo:” Cuba in the Revolutionary Imaginary of Movimiento Music . Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting. New Orleans, Louisiana: Society for Ethnomusicology.
