First lecture in festival series
July 11, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Chamber Music Festival
Bryan Townsend
Mon, July 14, 7pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
50-peso donation

Musicologist Bryan Townsend will explore the variety of themes in chamber music in the first lecture in a series preceding the summer chamber music festival. Using string quartet compositions as examples, Townsend will look at music by Haydn, Beethoven, Bartók, Shostakovich and a contemporary composer, Steve Reich. “We will see that each composer comes up with a piece of music based on a unique idea,” Townsend said. “For Haydn, the use of silence; for Beethoven, the energetic fusion of two totally different musical forms, for Bartók, the slide between notes, for Shostakovich, the encoding of his own name into the texture and finally, for Steve Reich, the taking of musical themes from recordings of the human voice.”

Townsend, who has degrees in musicology and performance from McGill University, gives another lecture July 22: “When Jimi Meets Ludwig: Interactions between Popular Music and Chamber Music.”

Bonampak murals in Chiapas

Lecture
The Magnificent Maya: Part I
Prof. Guillermo Méndez
Wed, July 16, 3pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos

They were the most advanced of all the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica. The Maya inhabited southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and the western boundaries of Honduras and El Salvador. They built cities and paved roadways, although they used no wheeled vehicles of any kind. Their astronomers plotted the movements of the visible planets and stars using a mathematics that included zero, a rare accomplishment in world history. They were the only people of the New World to develop a complete written language that could express, in writing, anything spoken. They made books that combined illustrations and glyphs.

The magnificent Maya are the subject of a lecture by retired professor of humanities Guillermo Méndez that will focus on architecture and art, the Bonampak murals and Maya mathematics.

Are men from Mars and women from Venus?
By Colin Hanlen

Lecture
Men Are Like Dogs, Women Are Like Cats
Colin Hanlen
Fri, July 18, 3–5pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Donation 50 pesos

At a recent discussion, the gathered group was not sure if men were from Mars and women were from Venus. But we decided that there are many similarities between men and dogs and women and cats. Men are so right out there and need to be bathed frequently or they smell just like dogs. Women are so dignified and refined—even self-cleaning—and always smell wonderful.

Some people tend to think all dogs are alike or all cats are alike. Every species has its own personality, from Warrior Dog or Alley Cat to Lap Dog or Shepherd Dog. Come explore your own personality or the personality of an acquaintance. “Why?” you may ask. It is my experience that often male and female expectations cause problems. A woman or man generally won’t or can’t act like the other. With understanding and living with compassion men and women can be helpmates and have fun playing more often.

American Indians and other indigenous peoples tend to watch the behavior of their children and notice which animals the child’s behavior models, and it becomes their totem. This is similar to Catholics who choose a favorite saint to be a model for behavior.

So I will bring a few of my favorite stories about dogs and cats and hope that you also will bring your favorite story about a cat, dog, kitten or puppy, and then see if the group can agree on our interpretation of the story. The worst that can happen is that this will be a group of barking or yappy dogs, or scary cats either snarling or hiding under the furniture. The Biblioteca forbids cats climbing on the bookshelves!

At best it will be a happy afternoon using our imaginations and creativity to explore ways that men and women can enrich their lives and the life of their favorite “other.”