Marimbist Vida Chenoweth met Guatemalan composer Jorge Alvaro Sarmientos while she was a Fulbright scholar studying indigenous marimbas there in 1957. He wrote his "Concertino" for Chenoweth during November and December of that year, then entered it in a concerto composition contest that Chenoweth sponsored and financed in early 1958. This prize-winning concerto was first performed in Guatemala at an informal concert in early 1960, with August Ardenois conducting, Sarmientos playing timpani, and Chenoweth as soloist. The formal premiere occurred on September 16, 1960 as part of the celebrations of National Day (September 15), with Chenoweth as soloist and Jose Maria Gill conducting the Sinfonica Nacional. The United States premiere was presented with the Tulsa (Oklahoma) Philharmonic Orchestra in 1964. The concerto is in three movements: 1. Moderato Allegro Moderato; 2. Andante Cantabile (II-- Movimiento Canzone India); 3. Rondo Allegro (III--Movimiento Rondo). It is scored for strings, piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, timpani, and solo marimba. The conductor's score consists of 38 numbered pages including a 12-bar insert five measures from the end of the final movement. Each orchestra part includes the 12-bar insert taped to its last page. The scores are marked in pencil with performance notations by Chenoweth and by various conductors and orchestra personnel in Guatemala, New Zealand, and the United States.

Vida Chenoweth on her first ethnomusicology expedition to Southern Mexico, 1962.