La Tuna serenades, proposes marriage

“If you ever wanted to be Spanish by marriage, here’s your chance!”

That’s what a member of… “If you ever wanted to be Spanish by marriage, here’s your chance!”

That’s what a member of La Tuna yelled out yesterday during their performance in the William Pitt Union.

La Tuna, a musical group from the University of Valladolid in Spain, wandered throughout Pitt while playing traditional Spanish instruments.

In between marriage proposals – and there were a lot of proposals – members of La Tuna serenaded onlookers with love songs and original compositions, as well as popular Spanish music. The group also played games with the audience.

“It was kind of weird at first, sitting in the lobby [of the Union] with them circling around us, asking us to marry them,” said Jenny Fox, a freshman Spanish student. “But overall, it was very cool.”

The colorfully dressed musicians sang to anyone who would stop and listen, but the audience was primarily composed of students and faculty who have a special interest in either the Spanish language or culture. The members of La Tuna wore black capes that matched those that would have been worn by tunas in the 16th century, covered in patches and vibrant ribbons that displayed Spanish sayings.

Many universities in Spain have musical groups known as tunas. Generally, the music groups are large and all male. Performances include singing, dancing and a high level of audience participation. Viewers sang along, danced and clapped in time with the music.

“It was good to actually see Spanish culture instead of just reading about it,” Courtney Smith said. Smith’s Spanish class has recently been discussing the history of tunas in preparation for the visit.

Many of the students at Pitt currently enrolled in Spanish classes were encouraged to attend the event, since the opportunity to see a tuna live is very rare. Some classes, such as Smith’s, spent the hour that would be typically spent in the classroom in the Union enjoying the music of La Tuna.

“It is always interesting for me to learn about Spanish culture,” Fox said. “It was something that I had never heard of before.”

The Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures and the Center for West European Studies sponsored the appearance of La Tuna. Tonight, La Tuna is performing at Pitt’s Greensburg campus.