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Festival of San Miguel de Allende starts this week
By Gabriela Blanco
The Festival of San Miguel de Allende, directed by the famous cellist Gilberto Munguia, will take place from December 20– 31 at the Teatro Angela Peralta. The festival, celebrating its 15th anniversary, brings together internationally renowned chamber musicians, such as Celeste Goleen, Geoff Nuttal Livia Sohn, Clyde Shaw, Doris Lederer, Sauna Rolston, Bernardene Blaha, Kevin Fitz-Gerald Thomas Hrynkiw, Yuqing Meng, Luis Humberto Ramos and, of course, Gilberto Munguia himself.
Considered by the Mexican government as one of the country’s best classical music events, this year’s festival will include 14 concerts, of which four will be free. Among the composers to be featured are Fauré, Bartok, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Prokofief, Andel, Mendelssohn, Bach, Stravinsky, Brahms and Paganini.
“The Festival is a not social event; it’s a cultural one. The spectator can sit down to enjoy the beauty of the repertoire and we invite everyone to say good-bye to 2007 in one of the most beautiful cities, San Miguel of Allende, by listening to world’s best music,” said the director and founder of the festival, Gilberto Munguia.
During a visit to Mexico in the winter of 1986, Munguia and his wife were so enchanted by San Miguel that they decided to settle here. A year later, the cellist and five friends founded the Festival of San Miguel of Allende. Since its inception, many internationally renowned musicians have participated in the festival, such as Walter Ponce, Jean-Ives Thibaudet, Thomas Hrynkiw, Susan Starr, Jerome Lowenthal, Ivan Davis, Bernadene Blaha, Kevin Fit-Gerald, the great jazz musician George Shearing; violinists Stephanie Chase, Soovin Kim, Erick Friedman, William Barbini, Dmitri Berlinsky, Kineko Okumura, David Kim and Livia Sohn, Myra Kestenbaum, Roberto Diaz, Burton Fine, and Barry Shiffman; cellists Andres Diaz, Alban Gerhardt, Shauna Ralston and Gilberto Munguia; flutist Patrick Gallois; clarinetist Luis Humberto Branches; guitarist Godelieve Monden; the St. Lawrence Quartet, the Tight Quartet, the Soloists of Mexico with Eduardo Kills and the string orchestra of the New World Symphony of Miami, Florida.
Gilberto Munguia has always been convinced that art directs the course of human history— that it contains the power to influence the outcome of historical events. He believes that as this new century begins, our young artists should lead the world as missionaries, actively participating in global development and change. The responsibility of educational institutions to contribute to the spiritual and intellectual development of young artists has become increasingly vital.
The festival’s goal is to establish an international center in San Miguel de Allende for the development of artists, recruiting students from Mexico, the United States and other countries. The faculty will be composed of the accomplished artists who have participated in the festival.
Festival of San Miguel de Allende
Canal 21 (Plaza Colonial)
For information and tickets
Hours: 10am to 3pm
Phone: (415) 152-8380
Email: contact@festivaldesanmigueldeallende.com
The concerts will be conducted as follows:
December 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 & 31
8pm
Free Concert for Children
Peter and the Wolf
December 24
4pm
Two Free Concerts
December 22 & 29
12pm
Free Concert
December 25
7pm
All shows to be held at Teatro Ángela Peralta (Mesones 82)..
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