The Guadalajara Reporter

Ribera Arts Review - June 1, 2013

VIVA la Musica! will start its summer concert series with a piano recital by Rosa Maria Valdez on Sunday, June 16, 4 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church.

Her program will include pieces from the baroque to modern Mexican music: Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Manuel M. Ponce, Alfredo Carrasco and Franz Liszt.

Valdez was born in Culiacan, Sinaloa and started playing the piano at the age of eight. She studied at the University of Guadalajara, where she obtained a degree in concert performance and later obtained a master’s degree in teaching piano.

A virtuoso pianist, she has performed as a soloist with the Jalisco Philarmonic Orchestra, as well as in other Mexican states.  She is currently teaching piano and piano accompaniment at the University of Guadalajara Music School.
Valdez has also recorded two CDs featuring the piano music of Mexican composer Alfredo Carrasco and Mexican music of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Tickets to the concert can be purchased at the Lake Chapala Society ticket counter on Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon, at the Diane Pearl Colecciones store on Colon, corner Ocampo, in Ajijic and also at the door.
The price of tickets is 200 pesos for VIVA members and 300 pesos for non-members. This is the last time this season when members can purchase tickets for the whole series at the reduced price of 800 pesos.

The cost of VIVA la Musica membership is 250 pesos a year per person or 450 pesos a year for a couple, and offers savings not only for the VIVA concerts but also for the bus trips to the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra and Live From The Met performances in Guadalajara.

Brief hiatus

A String Thing will be closed the first two Thursdays in June (the 6th and 13th), while Sheilah Ruof visits her family. Knitters and crocheters never fear, they will reopen on Thursday, June 20.

ASA meeting

The Ajijic Society of the Arts will meet Monday, June 3, 10 a.m. at La Bodega Restaurant (Calle 16 de Septiembre 124, Ajijic). The guest speaker for the meeting will be glass bead artist Sheila Checkoway. She will speak about her design aesthetic that leans to organic colors with beads looking more like rock than glass,  landscapes “painted” with molten glass, and other one-of-a-kind designs.  

Sheila has worked in hot glass for more than 15 years, beginning with hot shop sculpture sand-casting, then moving to the flame shop and beads.

Arrive early for the meeting. Coffee is ready at 9:30 a.m.

Free Danzon lessons

Learn the beautiful, romantic and sexy Cuban dance brought first to Veracruz in the 1870s and then spread throughout Mexico! Free lessons, and occasional demonstrations at the Kiosk in the central plaza of Aijic every Sunday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., starting June 9. Although the  classes will be taught in Spanish, an American will be there to translate and assist. Both singles and couples of all ages are welcome.

For more information contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

For the Lake

Mark Saturday, June 22 in your dairies to enjoy a day filled with great music and art to aid the recovery of Lake Chapala.

Headlining this summer benefit all-day event is acclaimed countertenor Santiago Cumplido. Also on the bill are the Zapopan Choir and a jazz combo.

An art auction, yoga and a raffle complete the picture.

The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Casa Collignon, Paseo de las Brisas 45 in La Floresta.  We expect to publish specific times for the performances in next week’s edition.

Tickets cost 250 pesos each and guarantee access to all the concerts, a raffle ticket and participation in the day’s events. They are on sale now at Farmacia Unica in Plaza Montana or call 766-0533 or (cel.) 333-190-0010.

Guitars

Hear some great classical guitar music at Chapala’s Gonzalez Gallo Cultural Center (old train station) on Thursday, June 13, when University of Guadalajara Music School teachers David Mozqueda and Winy Kellner team up for a concert.

Mozqueda is arguably the best classical guitarist in Mexico.

The acoustics in the Gonzalez Gallo building should be ideal for a guitar concert. The admission is just 50 pesos that will go into the coffers to help fund the summer school of arts held each year at the Gonzalez Gallo. The concert begins at 6 p.m.

Fiesta!

Tickets are going fast for the “Spectacular Fiesta Mexicana” set for Friday, June 21 on the Ajijic plaza.

It looks like the event will raise the remaining 40,000 pesos for the completion of the Miguel Miramontes statue.

The gala event will feature dance troupes Son de Mexico and Sones de Ajijic making its debut. Both troupes are directed by Luis Guzman. There will be a Mexican buffet of pozole, tamales and tostadas and raffles held with the event tickets.

Tickets for 300 pesos are available at the Efren Gonzalez Gallery at Marcos Castellanos 7 in Ajijic, La Nueva Posada, Actinver Ajijic and the Cultural Center. The ticket entitles the holder to a free margarita.  

See next week’s column for the starting time.

Incidentally …

Some folks have apparently received false information that Efren Gonzalez was going to stage another of his street art shows on June 16 and was inviting certain people to participate. According to Gonzalez, the reports are untrue. He’s not planning such an event, but is encouraging everyone to make it to the Fiesta Mexicana on June 21.