“The Mozart Family” opens concert series
By B. K. Lake, June 29, 2007

Concerts
Viva Musica

“The Mozart Family”
Sat, June 30, 5pm

“Shostakovich, Brahms and Zellner”
Sun, July 1, 5pm

St. Paul’s Church
Cardo 6
150/50 pesos

The Viva Musica quartet presents an all-Mozart evening as part of the Pro Musica series on June 30.

“The Mozart Family” includes works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; his father Leopold, who began teaching his son at age three; and Mozart’s musically gifted son, who always lived in his famous father’s shadow.

Mozart’s output of over 600 symphonies, concertantes and chamber, piano, operatic and choral music have placed him among the most enduringly popular of European composers. He is also considered music’s pre-eminent prodigy, writing his first compositions, a small Andante (K. 1a) and Allegro (K. 1b), in 1761, when he was five.

Mozart’s father was one of Europe’s leading music teachers and a prolific and successful composer. He gave all of this up to devote himself to his son’s musical instruction.

Franz Xavier Wolfgang Mozart, the youngest of Mozart’s six children, was born in 1791, five months before his father’s death. Although he became a composer, pianist, conductor and teacher, he spent his life knowing he couldn’t equal his famous father’s abilities.

The concert includes the piano trio in B-flat Major (K502). and the piano quartet in E-flat major (K. 493) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; the grandee sonata in E-Major (op. 19), for violoncello and piano by Franz Mozart, and duets for violin and viola by Leopold Mozart.

Series continues with Shostakovich, Brahms and Zellner

On July 1, Viva Musica performs works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Johannes Brahms and Julius Zellner. Viva Musica members are Susan Doering, violin; Claudia Shiuh, viola; Dieter Wulfhorst, violoncello; and Stephen Thomas, piano.

They present “Romance in C,” including Brahms’ piano quartet No. 3 in c minor, op. 60. A 19th century Romantic composer, Brahms was the son of a musician, Johann Jakob, who was his first teacher. Brahms began composing at an early age.

The program also includes the piano trio No. 1 in c minor, op. 8 by Dmitri Shostakovich, a Russian composer of the Soviet period known for the emotional power of his musical language, and the string trio in c. minor, op. 36 by Zellner, 1832–(N)1900. 

Tickets for both concerts are available for 150 and 50 pesos at La Tienda in the Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25; Casa de Papel, Mesones 57; St. Paul’s office weekdays 11am to 2pm; and at the door one hour before concert time. For details, visit www.promusica.com. 

Jaramar

Join Jaramar on a musical voyage between the Moorish and Sephardic chants of 16th century Spain to popular Mexican songs. Enjoy her unique interpretation on June 29 and 30. For reservations, call 154-8701 or email cafeelviejotopo@gmail.com.

Jaramar ha emprendido una singular viaje de exploración que va de la música renacentista, árabe y sefaradí, hasta la canción popular mexicana; un mestizaje cultural que nos presenta Jaramar con su fina sensibilidad y angelical voz. Este 29 y 30 de junio, en El Viejo Topo Café-Teatro.

Concert
Jaramar
Fri, June 29 & Sat, June 30, 9pm
El Viejo-Topo Café
Plaza Pueblito
Stirling Dickinson
175 pesos

Lupita’s Keys

“Lupita,” the Biblioteca’s new Yamaha upright, is 47% sold and going fast. Music lovers, community benefactors, anyone and everyone who takes pleasure in the Biblioteca, is welcome to purchase one (or more!) of Lupita’s “keys,” complete with a “Deed of Ownership.” The Actors Lab donated all the proceeds from their April performances and are thus the proud owners of a full octave. Musician Doug Robinson and Mexico Advisor’s Raul Rodriguez bought middle C and C-flat, Lupita’s priciest keys but some are still available in the 200 to 350 peso price range. Your support is greatly appreciated.

José Luis Mendoza is in his office Monday through Friday and will be happy to present a deed of ownership to anyone who would like to own a piece of Lupita. A poster of the keyboard with the names of all of her patrons is in the works.

For more information, contact José Luis Mendoza at 152-7305 ext.116









Acclaimed young pianist, composer gives two concerts
By B. K. Lake

Concert
Timothy Andres
Sat & Sun, July 14 &15, 5pm
St. Paul’s
Cardo 6
150/50 pesos


The composer and pianist Timothy Andres, 22, whom a Boston reviewer called “a young versatile talent…a knockout performer and a composer of substance” presents the final concerts July 14 and 15 of the Pro Musica season.

During his senior year in high school, Andres undertook a project on the life and music of Charles Ives, which culminated in several lectures on and performances of Ives’ “Concord Sonata” in New York. Richard Dryer of The Boston Globe called his performance “mature, accurate, and imaginative…the best Concord I have ever heard.” 

Andres went on to Yale University where he received his bachelor’s degree in music with distinction this year, and where he now is a graduate student. He was the only composition scholar chosen from the US for the 2002 Pinnacle Project, which includes a 10-year mentorship with composer Michael Gandolli. During his freshman year, he completed Symphony No. 1, his longest work to date, which won the 2004 BMI Carlos Surinach Award established by the late classical composer to discover and assist young musicians.

In a 2004 profile in New Yorker, Alex Ross said Andres “is a formidable pianist” and a composer whose “music is beginning to show an individual voice, which is the hardest thing for a composer to achieve.” An active performer and interpreter of recent music, Andres has played in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, and Alice Tully Hall. He has premiered music by Alex Temple, Mathew Suttor, Eric Nathan, Stephan Gorbos, and others. 

In December 2005, he performed here in Gilberto Munguia’s Festival de San Miguel de Allende with other Sokokis Institute fellowship students. Munguia, a concert cellist, established the institute to offer teaching and courses to enhance students’ artistic development.

On July 14, Andres will perform his work, “How can I live in your world of ideas?,” as well as Ludwig von Beethoven’s Waldstein sonata and “Phygian Gates” by John Adams.

The July 15 program includes Robert Schumann’s “Gesange der Fruhe,” Gyorgy Lugeti’s “Musica Ricercata,” and Frederick Rzewski’s “Four North American Ballads.”

Both concerts will start at 5pm at St. Paul’s church, Calle Cardo 6. Tickets at 150 and 50 pesos are available at La Tienda in the Biblioteca, Insurgentes 25; Casa de Papel, Mesones 57; La Conexion, Aldama 3, and St. Paul’s office weekdays 11 to 2; and at the door one hour before concert time. For details see www.promusica.com. 

Doug Robinson: Plays well with others 
By Jean Gerber

Concert “Doug Robinson: Plays Well With Others” Mon, July 2 & Tues July 3, 7pm Teatro Santa Ana Biblioteca Pública 200-peso donation

All of us at Casita Linda are thrilled about the concerts that are being put on July 2 and 3 to raise funds for our charitable work. I recently managed to catch up with keyboardist and concertmeister Doug Robinson by phone in San Diego to find out what we have to look forward to, and asked him why he chose to support Casita Linda. 

“Casita Linda has always struck me as a lean, mean charity that does exactly what it says it’s going to do: build simple, solid houses for deserving families in rural areas around San Miguel. It blew me away when I learned you could build a house with water and electricity for US$1400…and in ten days! So this concert is my way of contributing to this very worthy cause.” Founded in 2001, Casita Linda has recently completed its ninth house.

Robinson explained that he chose the title “Doug Robinson Plays Well With Others’ because, “while I’m going to play (and sing) a few of my own compositions, the heart of the concert will be me pairing up with some of my super-talented musical colleagues and having some fun. For example, I’ll be playing with my friend Guillermo, sometimes called Guillermo Blanco, a.k.a. Billy White. Guillermo was a very successful rock ‘n’ roll guitarist in the States. Over the last eight years he has transformed himself into a wonderful Flamenco player. I think people will be blown away by his ideas and sense of rhythm. 

“Then there’s Rio Negro, a trio made up of Camille on French accordion, Beto on bass, and Federico on guitar and vocals. Its music that you can’t hear anywhere else in town: part Tango, part romantic European. And I’ll be happy to introduce a drummer who’s never played in San Miguel before: Ian Hoffman, a San Francisco Bay Area Cajun-rock player who moved to Bernal last year with his wife Carolyn to become Gringos number 11 and 12. He’s gonna bring some fire to the show, for sure.”

I asked Doug about his plan to team up with the two Ken B’s of the San Miguel music scene: Bichel and Basman. “Most people have heard Ken Basman play at Tio Lucas, but he’s got so much more to say than he can in that setting—he’s a world-class jazz guitarist. Recently we’ve begun sitting down, picking a song we both know, and having a spontaneous musical dialog—and we’re going to do that in the show. It always feels kind of risky, because we never know what’s going to happen.”

“The other Ken B. is, of course, Ken Bichel, the Juilliard-trained piano wizard. This will be the world premiere our “dueling pianos” act—again, a musical conversation that is completely improvised. Somehow this process frees both of us to play in ways that are radically different from our usual styles.”

Bichel has performed with the likes of George Benson, Judy Collins, the Brecker Brothers and even Aretha Franklin.

Robinson plans to include his wife Glenda in the show as she is “quite simply, my favorite singer. Once you hear her voice, you’ll know why—she has an intimate sound that touches your heart. She’s going to sing the very first song I ever heard her perform, back when I was only 15. I fell instantly in love with her. And it only took us another 18 years to get together! 

“We’re also going to have some intriguing surprise performers. Every centavo raised by these concerts will go directly to Casita Linda—and we’re able to do this only because all 14 musicians are generously giving of their time. They get asked to do benefits a lot, but have to decline because this is how they earn their living. So I’m very grateful that they’ve jumped on board.” 

Jean Gerber is a volunteer at Casita Linda, a San Miguel-based non-profit organization dedicated to building dignified lives for deserving families, one house at a time. For more information, go to www.casitalinda.org.  

COME TO THE “PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS” AFTER-PARTY!

You are invited to keep the fun going by joining the principals of Select Real Estate for a post-opening night party at their new offices on Jesús 5. 

There will be more live music, a chance to meet some of the performers, drinks and botanas. The party will start right after the concert and run until around 10:30. There’s only room for 50, so drop by the office or call 152-2322 to reserve your space with a 100-peso donation. All the proceeds from this party will go to Casita Linda.

The turtles are coming! The turtles are coming!
By Ed Clancy

Do you remember the wild acclaim for the Turtle Island Quartet at last year’s Chamber Music Festival? The bitter disappointment they were “only” playing twice? The encore with Ying, “Because,” that was so sweet and melancholy it made you weep?

The Turtle Island Quartet is coming to San Miguel again to open the Chamber Music Festival, and this year they are playing John Coltrane. And not just any Coltrane, but A Love Supreme, his seminal album. The music of John Coltrane is wonderful—(M)emotional, lush, deep, sometimes spiritual, always moving. And so it makes sense that the TIQ would pay tribute to him with their newest recording, A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane. This CD is vintage Turtle Island—(M)it stays faithful to Coltrane’s original concepts, while putting the distinct TIQ signature on the tunes, exploring them for new dimensions and depth.

All right, I’ll say it: I love the Turtle Island Quartet and their music. They have wonderful improvisational, compositional and arranging skills, and it amuses me that those skills were more prevalent in chamber music 200 years ago than they are today, that what was commonplace then is now considered edgy. I enjoy their fusion of the classical quartet aesthetic with contemporary American musical styles, the mixture of the classical form with jazz, the structured with the free. But mostly I love their groove. Because they are completely lost in the music, so am I.

Few question that A Love Supreme (Impulse! 1964) is Coltrane’s masterpiece. But according to Ashley Kahn of NPR’s Morning Edition, it is more than just a musical statement: “It’s an unusually complete vision of one man’s spirituality expressed through his art. Coltrane used the tools he had available and that he knew: a saxophone, a well-practiced quartet—even his own voice—to create music worthy of his creator, a piece Coltrane called his ‘humble offering to God.’”

In a 1966 interview, Coltrane discussed religion and spirituality. “I’ve always felt that even though a man was not a Christian, he still has to know the truth some way or another. Or if he was a Christian, he could know the truth. The truth itself doesn’t have any name on it to me. And each man has to find this for himself, I think.”

So, Turtle Island’s challenge on this latest CD was to bring out Coltrane’s passion and energy, while working with much different instrumentation. Have they succeeded? Last year we experienced the results on pieces like “So What”—if you closed your eyes, you could almost hear the sax through Mads Tolling’s viola, and Mark Summer sounded like an entire rhythm section by himself. This year, you’ll be able to hear the TIQ’s entire CD over the two opening concerts, July 28 and 29, and judge for yourself. 

And this CD has a lot more on it than just the four original “movements” of A Love Supreme. It includes the TIQ take on other songs written by, inspired by, popularized by, or dedicated to Coltrane. Coltrane played inimitable solos, and the TIQ takes full advantage of them on cuts “Round Midnight” and “My Favorite Things.” “La Danse du Bonheur” speaks to Coltrane’s influence in blending Indian music with jazz, and it is a fitting canvas for the TIQ, which frequently incorporates Indian music into their performances.

And then there is “Model Trane,” a string quartet’s interpretation of Coltrane’s original cut “Impressions,” which was in turn inspired by a Debussy theme. Where does the classical end and the jazz begin, and isn’t it interesting how they influence each other? Which is why the TIQ is opening at this year’s festival. Jazz fans will find new areas to explore in A Love Supreme, while the classical set may find a path to one of jazz’s most enduring achievements. The Turtle Island Quartet’s two concerts here promise to be magical evenings for everyone.

You can hear an NPR interview with the Turtle Island members talking about their New CD, A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane, at the following site: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9694023 .

Please remember that last year both Turtle Island Quartet concerts were completely sold out. Season tickets are available at the Chamber Music Festival office (in Bellas Artes, phone 154-8722), and tickets for individual concerts go on sale July 2. The entire festival schedule is available online at www.chambermusicfestival.com. 

Ed Clancy is the President of the Consejo Ejecutivo of the San Miguel Chamber Music Festival.

XXIX Festival de Música de Cámara de San Miguel de Allende

(Programs subject to change)

Saturday July 28, 7:00 pm Turtle Island Quartet Teatro Angela Peralta

Sunday July 29, 5:00 pm Turtle Island Quartet Teatro Angela Peralta

Monday July 30, 7:00 pm Cypress String Quartet Teatro Angela Peralta

Tuesday 31, 7:00 pm Cypress String Quartet Free Concert. Bellas Artes

Wednesday August 1, 7:00 pm La Catrina String Quartet T.B.A. Not included in season ticket

Thursday August 2, 7:00 pm Cypress String Quartet Teatro Angela Peralta

Friday August 3, 7:00 pm Cassatt String Quartet Teatro Angela Peralta

Saturday August 4, 7:00 pm Cassatt String QuartetMauricio Nader, Piano Teatro Angela Peralta

Sunday August 5, 6:00 pm Rossetti String Quartet Teatro Angela Peralta

Monday August 6, 7:00 pm Imani Winds Teatro Angela Peralta

Tuesday August 7, 7:00 pm Imani WindsCassatt String QuartetTim Fain, violinMauricio Nader, Piano Teatro Angela Peralta

Wednesday August 8, 5:00 pm Rossetti String Quartet Santuario AtotonilcoNot included in season ticket

Thursday August 9, 7:00 pm Imani Winds T.B.A. Not included in season ticket

Friday August 10, 7:00 pm Brentano String Quartet Teatro Angela Peralta

Saturday August 11, 7:00 pm Brentano String QuartetLa Catrina String Quartet Teatro Angela Peralta