The musical artistry of Santa Fe’s Jerry Lopez is a part of the Fiesta de Santa Fe. His grandmother, Magdalena Griego wrote “¡Que Viva la Fiesta! It’s part of the opening festivity and is played throughout the three day event. She also composed the song for La Conquistadora. The nation’s oldest Madonna, along with Don Diego de Vargas, are the two central figures in the 1712 Fiesta proclamation.
Before Jerry and his brother Gilbert had reached school age they were on their way as recording artists. They performed on the plaza bandstand at fiesta through their teens with performers like Genoveva Chavez and Alan Muñiz. Through the early part of the 1970s Los Hermanos Lopez were part of Santa Fe’s nightclub circuit at La Fonda and El Nido with Vicente and Ruben Romero. In 1975 the family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Jerry’s dream of becoming a professional musician came to fruition. In addition to working as a musical director on the west coast, his band, Santa Fe & the Fat City Horns tours nationally. At the start of the millennium Jerry was the lead guitarist and sideman to Ricky Martin’s worldwide tour, Livin la Vida Loca. The Today Show and Madison Square Garden featured the tour.
No Place Like Home
Never one to forget his roots, Jerry Lopez has performed in Santa Fe during Hispanic Heritage month to raise scholarships for the National Latino Behavioral Health Association. The autumn concert takes place at the Lensic Theater. Up the street from the Lensic, Jerry’s grandfather, Nicolás Escajeda, worked as a weaver. He was also a soloist in the choir at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in the 1930s.