TUCSON, AZ – The Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra and winners of the Linus Lerner International Voice Competition will present a free public concert in celebration of Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. at the Fox Theatre. The program features guest artists from Mexico as well as music by Mexican composers.
The Consulate of Mexico in Tucson, in collaboration with the Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Tucson, SASO and the Fox Theatre Tucson, presents this commemoration of the 207th anniversary of Mexican Independence. Free tickets will be distributed by the Mexican Consulate, 3915 E. Broadway. For information call the consulate at 882-5595, Ext. 404.
Guest artists include Liliana del Conde, a well-known singer in Mexico, along with Diana Peralta, mezzo soprano; José González Caro, baritone, and composer/conductor Alejandro Sánchez-Navarro, directing his own “México (El País de las Montañas).”
Peralta and Caro were prize winners at the second Linus Lerner Voice Competition, which was held this summer in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. They performed with SASO in the second Opera Festival of San Luis, which was held in conjunction with the voice completion. Del Conde is the general director of the Opera Festival, which she and Lerner founded in 2016.
The program includes the “Mexico 1910 Suite” by Esperón Gonzales, and these arias:
- “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah, sung by Peralta
- “Hai gia vinta la causa” from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, sung by Caro
- “Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen, Peralta
- “Bella siccome un angelo” from Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Caro
- “Queen of the night” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, sung by del Conde
- “Asi” by Maria Grever, del Conde
- “Cuando vuelva a tu lado,” also by Grever, Caro
- “Jurame” by Grever, all three singersLerner is an internationally known vocal coach and conductor. He said, “In recent years, Mexico has become the source of some of the best emerging opera singers in the world.” He has organized a series of opera festivals in Mexico to showcase these emerging talents and to nurture their development through workshops and individual coaching. In addition to the festival and competition in San Luis Potosí held in 2016 and 2017, SASO musicians have performed with him at opera festivals in Oaxaca in 2013, 2014 and 2015. This is SASO’s fourth annual Mexican Independence Day celebration concert.
- Founded in 1979, SASO presents world premieres, seldom-performed treasures and classical favorites. The orchestra is a vital community resource that unites performers and audiences through a passion for music – locally and internationally. For more information call 308-6226 or visit www.sasomusic.org
- Fox Theatre Tucson – which seats 1,200 – is in downtown Tucson at 17 W. Congress St. Doors will open at 7 p.m.
- On the eve of September 16, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called upon the residents of the town of Dolores, Hidalgo to rise up against the government of New Spain. This call to arms began an 11-year struggle that culminated with the Cordoba Treaties and the birth of a new nation.
- Ricardo Pineda, Consul of Mexico in Tucson, has said, “We want to share with the public our rich historical and cultural legacy and our different traditions. This event seeks to bring our communities together in remembrance of those who have forged the history of Mexico.”