Colorado Chicano Music Festival Honors Four Local Legends

At the 2025 Chicano Music Hall of Fame ceremony and Noche Tradicional Concert on July 24, four local legends were inducted to the 23rd Class of Nuestra Musica de Chicano Music Hall of Fame. The artists included Larry Lobato Jr., Robin Garcia, Amincha and Donnie Lucero, all hailing from Colorado.

The Hall of Music Induction ceremony took place on the second day of the 29th Annual Chicano Music Festival & Auction at the Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center in Denver. The five-day festival celebrates Chicano culture, music, food, art and history within the Mile High City.

According to Su Teatro, the event honors this year's inductees "who have inspired, preserved and broadened the range of Chicano music in Colorado. It is an evening when 'Legends Walk Among Us.'" The 2025 inductees were selected by Hall of Fame members Rudy Bustos, Yolanda Ortega and Dr. Lorenzo Trujillo.

As the third oldest Chicano theater in the United States and oldest theater company in Denver, Su Teatro has fostered a community and productions that bring light to the experience and live histories Chicanos endured. The company began in 1972, during the height of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, as a student theater group at the University of Colorado Denver when Chicano teatros spread across the southwest at the time.

The company became known for its 1973 production titled El Corrido del Barrio. The play showcased and protested the destruction of the Auraria neighborhood, which was predominantly Latin, in order to build UCD, Metropolitan State University of Denver and the Community College of Denver. After throwing plays at rented spaces across Denver, a 1986 performance at Joseph Papp's Festival Latino at New York City's Public Theatre and more attractions later, Su Teatro bought the abandoned Elyria School building in Northeast Denver and stayed there. Thanks to the City of Denver, Su Teatro was provided a bridge loan of $790,000 and it moved to the Denver Civic Theatre in 2010.

In 2024, Su Teatro expanded its presence within Denver with the purchase of the Blue Building at 659 Santa Fe Drive. The expansion didn't stop anytime soon, especially with the set negotiations of purchasing neighboring building 930 West Seventh Avenue for $2.9 million.

Playwright and Su Teatro executive artistic director Tony Garcia first became involved with the company as a musician while studying at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1972, and entered his current role in '89. After receiving a comment from actor Manuel Roybal about the need for a Hall of Fame, Garcia, Trujillo and Flo Hernandez-Ramos founded the HOF initiative in 2003. The first inductees to the Hall were musician Eva Nuanez and Francisco "Paco" Sanchez, the founder of the first Spanish-language radio station.

"We are lovers of music, we are lovers of our culture," said Garcia in his introductory speech last Thursday. "We felt that those artists who for years have been so much a part of our lives, helping us to celebrate weddings, quinceañeras and birthdays, who often played and lived in obscurity should be celebrated and honored."

Through the Chicano Music Festival, a great tradition of honoring ancestors and exploring the roots of Chicano history and culture through music has endured for almost three decades. The exposure of other genres, dating back to the 1930s, has allowed Chicano music to expand, as well. From the traditional mariachi music and corridos that many grew up with to the transition of rhythm, blues and rap, Chicano music encompasses many sounds, eras and categories of music. For Garcia, it's not just exploring what Chicano music is, but to take time to appreciate those that paved the way and that were "living in multiple cultures."

"Think about a time when our musicians were singing in Spanish, in public at the same time their children were being punished in school for speaking Spanish," says Garcia. "Think of the role our music played in keeping our culture alive. Helping to maintain our language and identity."

Learn more about the 2025 Chicano Music Hall of Fame Inductees below:

Larry Lobato
Performing for almost three decades, Community City-native Larry Lobato has done it all. From getting his start in Latin Touch Band under his father Chicano Music Hall of Fame inductee Lawrence Lobato to founding bands such as Latin Sol, Diversity and Chicano Heat band, Lobato has performed for concerts, weddings, anniversaries and private events. As a trained vocalist and saxophonist, Lobato looks fondly on projects such as Haciendo Recuerdos with Chicano Heat and Que Bonita Raquelita, named after his daughter and features his uncle Danny Lobato as a collaborator.

Amincha
In 1972, brothers Leonardo and Jose Pepe Cornejo founded the band Amincha, which comes from a small Andean village in Chile. With the belief that committing themselves and their music to their indigenous roots, the members restructured in Denver in 1978 and in the next twenty years, they introduced the Nueva Cancion movement to activists in the Colorado Chicano Movement. In its music, Amincha addressed Chicano, Latin American and Chilean struggles that were prominent at the time, giving listeners inspiration, hope and the courage to be proud of their background. Other members of Amincha included Ivan Cornejo, Mauricio Tagle and Oscar Jensen.

Donnie Lucero
Flautist extraordinaire Donnie Lucero, known as Don L, has been a fixture in Denver Latin rock for more than six decades. With his flute skills seen with Latin-rock group Nubia, Lucero adds a sophisticated yet experimental sound to the genre, which exceeded the range of music back then. As a community advocate, he has influenced new generations of musicians to get opportunities to play, prepare for music school and facilitate performances of groups like Tierra and Malo. Lucero is an advocate for music that blends rock, jazz, Spanish and Latin rhythms that create new experiences.

Robin Garcia
Highly-skilled musician Robin Garcia is no stranger to adapting to any instrument needed for a band. The saxophone, flute, keyboard and incredible vocals are some of Garcia's specialities in the music space. Contributing to bands such as Soul School, Deleon Brother and Mighty Nice Band, Garcia's skills are one-of-a-kind and are beneficial to any band regardless of genre. Garcia also toured with Freddy Rodriguez and Freddie Rodriguez Jr. on two United Service Organization Tours.