About
La Murga de Austin is a brass & drum band steeped in the traditions of murga. Whenever you think of the pageantry of Carnival celebrations in South America, or the electric atmosphere and songs and chants at a fútbol match in Mexico or Argentina, chances are your mind is conjuring up the sights and sounds of murga.
What originally began in Uruguay as a form of musical theatre has grown since the 1960s to represent the ultimate expression of fan support throughout the soccer stadiums of North and South America.
At its core, a murga band is comprised of brass instruments — typically trumpet and trombone — and various Brazilian and other Latin American drums. The most recognizable percussion instrument is the bombo, or bombo murguero — a colossal bass drum with cymbals (“platillos”) affixed to the top.
The bombo is the star of the murga and leads the rhythm section, functioning as the backbone of every song and chant. Even by itself, the mighty bombo can inspire a crowd to chant, sing, clap and cheer with it’s tremendous resonance.
2023 Leadership Team
- Drums
- Drum Captain - Kurt Lammers
- Lead Bombo - Julie "Two Times" LaCivita
- Lead Surdo - Jeshua Medrano
- Lead Snare - Colby Falkner James
- Lead Repique - Dave Walker
- Brass
- Brass Captain - Zol Waterhouse
- Low Brass Lead - Mason Johnston
- High Brass Lead - Paul Fletes
- Capos
- Lead - Stephanie Dempsey
- Lead - Kirk Mangum
- Lead - Ray Castelo
- Lead - Jay Torres
- Banderas
- Lead - Jimbo Walters
- Lead - Victor "Perro" Calzada-Flores
- Operations
- Events/Booking Lead - Wiley Koepp
- Membership Lead - Brittany Koepp
- Merch Lead - Marc Tost
- Social Media/AV - Dani MacKenna
- Tech Lead - Ben Hulan