December 18, 2023
Bolton produces holiday special for public radio
Submitted by Kevin Santos Flores
Now a tradition for many public radio stations, High Plains Public Radio, based in Garden City and Amarillo, Texas, will feature "Las Cantigas de Santa Maria," a musical biography of Medieval King Alfonso X, produced and hosted by Debra Bolton.
Bolton serves as director of intercultural learning and academic success. She's co-coordinator of SAFE Zone and serves as graduate faculty.
The radio show will air at 2 p.m. central time on Friday, Dec. 22. Since K-State and the Manhattan area are not in the listening region of this radio station, potential listeners can hear it on the station's website. The streaming tab is the red circle with the white arrow on the top left of webpage.
The two-hour radio program features historical narrative about the medieval King Alfonso X from 13th-century Spain. The songs and poems, created by the king and his scribes, focus on the miracles and good deeds of the Virgin Mary and served to teach morality to the king's subjects. King Alfonso "the wise" wrote more than 420 songs for performance in his court and across his kingdom. Not only did he want to teach about good and evil, but he was also wanted to "secure his place in the kingdom of heaven."
Bolton said she became interested in King Alfonso when she learned that he was a pluralist, honoring Christians, Jewish and Muslim peoples on equitable footings in his kingdom. He honored knowledge, and all had different areas of expertise that would strengthen the kingdom. The king was more interested in studying and learning from great thinkers than excluding certain people who lived in his kingdom. That came 200 years later with Isabel and Ferdinand.
"At its core, this show is a musical biography of King Alfonso X," Bolton said. "One can infer what points of concern that the good king was facing based on the stories of the musical poems."
Bolton also posts her narrative, playlist and photos on her blog. Scroll to "Las Cantigas de Santa Maria 2023."