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Sister city bond celebrated Photo by Andy Atkinson University of Guanajuato student musician Fransisco Cabrero dances and plays the tambourine for a Southern Oregon University audience Wednesday, backed by fellow musicians from the Mexican university's Estudiantina de Oro group. The ensemble entertained on campus as part of a visit from Ashland's sister city. Mexican musicians perform with Ashlanders at SOU By JOHN DARLING Visitors will perform today and tonight The visiting Estudiantina de Oro group from the University of Guanajuato presents a two-hour concert of traditional songs from Spain and Mexico at 7:30 tonight at the new theater building at Ashland High School. Tickets are $5 general, $3 students and seniors, and are available at SOU Raider Aid in Stevenson Union, Inti Imports on the Plaza, Ashland High or La Clinica del Valle in Phoenix. Call 552-6677 for information. The group also performs at many Ashland schools this week. The world-renowned classic guitar quartet from the University of Guanajuato performs at 11 a.m. today at Southern Oregon University's Music Recital Hall on South Mountain Avenue. Admission is free. ASHLAND -- Echoing an alluring 15th-century Spanish tradition, a band of wandering minstrels from Ashland's sister city sang their way across the Southern Oregon University campus Wednesday with a crowd of several hundred singing locals in tow. It was all part of the 30th anniversary celebration this week of sisterhood between the cities of Ashland and Guanajuato their universities. The bond was created in 1969 by now-retired SOU Spanish professor Chela Kocks and has resulted in annual exchanges of several dozen students. "It's very stimulating and the people are very friendly and get along easily," said exchange student Pedro Nieto of Guanajuato, who is working toward his master's in business administration at SOU. The visiting 22-member musical group, Estudiantina de Oro, comprises students at University of Guanajuato as part of a civic service obligation they take on with government-supported education. They perform on guitar, lute, bass, tambourine and castanets. "It's a tradition that they go through the streets singing traditional, folk and romantic songs every night in Guanajuato," said Kocks. "People follow them like the Pied Piper. Guanajuato is a Spanish colonial city, so it helps keep alive the traditions of Spain." The tradition of university students literally singing for their supper dates back to the 15th century. She urged locals to clap rhythm during the noon serenade, "or else they can't play the music." The visitors this week from Guanajuato include the former university rector, Juan Carlos Romeo-Hick, an SOU alumnus; current rector Silvia Aalvares; and Guanajuato State Governor Vincente Fox; and 20 professors. The delegation will meet with their counterparts on the Ashland campus and take tours of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival theaters, Jacksonville and Mount Ashland, and meet with civic groups. The visitors also donated a collection of books written by University of Guanajuato professors and attended a dedication outside the Guanajuato Room of Stevenson Union of a mural presented by the University of Guanajuato. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA