August, 07 2009, Musical days and hours, By Inés Roberts, Festival Fiesta Finale, One of a kind—violins and vestidos, By Inés Roberts, Stringed instrument workshop at the Biblioteca, By Jesús Ibarra

As nearly 200 professional musicians with over 33 international awards, composers and music students from around the world head to San Miguel for Chamber Music Festival XXXI, its impact is sure to be experienced and enjoyed by all.

One of the festival’s important functions has always been its outreach program for Mexican music students which, as Alain Durbecq, director of this year’s student program indicated, “helps to improve the level of students who learn to play in chamber music groups guided by outstanding professionals.” Among former festival students who have joined the ranks of professionals are Omar Guevara Sánchez, now violinist with the Carlos Chávez String Quartet, and Javier Arias, cellist with the Amernet String Quartet. Both are playing in this year’s festival.

This year nearly 40 students from across Mexico received scholarships to attend the program as well as the all-important support of local residents who will house them during the festival.

This year, the festival is offering five free concerts plus daily “Musical Hours” at 5pm under the Portales in the Jardín, at the kiosk in Párque Juarez, at the Plaza Cívica, in the patio of the Biblioteca Pública, at El Sindicato and in the patios of Bellas Artes, as well as its music rooms where pianos are available.

The free concerts start at the Teatro Ángela Peralta on August 9 with a performance by the Trio Quetzal (another student success of the festival) at 5pm.

On August 10, the Haven String Quartet from New Haven presents a fun-filled program for children at noon, and the Yale Alumni Choir offers a concert on the same day at the San Francisco Church at 8:30pm.

On Thursday, August 13, a candlelight concert in the local Panteón (cemetery) starts at 11pm.

Wrapping up the free concerts is the Gala Celebration Concert on Sunday, August 16, at 5pm at Teatro Ángela Peralta, featuring the Student Orchestra and a choral group from Guanajuato. Please note that although these concerts are free, you will need tickets, which can be picked up at the Teatro Ángela Peralta box office.

You are invited to join the newly formed Chamber Music Society under the auspices of the Chamber Music Festival, which will present future August festivals as well as work with private and government sources to bring chamber and related music to San Miguel throughout the year. Additionally, your donation will support the festival’s Mexican Advanced Student Program which provides expertise, confidence building, connections and growth toward their dreams of becoming professional musicians. The cost of membership is US$125 (or peso equivalent), which can be purchased at the Bellas Artes office or in the theater during the concerts. Members will receive invitations to future members-only receptions and private concerts. With your membership you will be able to attend the Festival Fiesta Finale at Casa Linda—a cocktail reception, fashion show and final String Theory Auction.

A season pass of 10 concerts in orchestra seats is US$212.50, which also allows entrance to an additional four free concerts. Another option is the “half-season pass” for $130 for six outstanding concerts. Tickets can be reserved and purchased online from www.festivalsanmiguel.com or at the Bellas Artes office Monday–Friday, 10am–3pm, 154-8722. Groups, dates and their music programs are also on the website.

Festival Fiesta Finale
“String Theory—Art on Violins” silent auction &
Baroque Fashion: XVI–XX Century
Barbara Porter designs
Sun, Aug 16, 6pm
Casa Linda
Mesones 101
www.festivalsanmiguel.com

By chance, have you ever dreamed of owning a Guarneri or a Stradivarius? Is spending millions of dollars on an instrument you can’t play questionable? Well, this is your chance to own a unique instrument you might not need to play but that will add drama to your art collection!

“String Theory—Art on Violins” is the Chamber Music Festival’s silent auction of creatively decorated violins by some of San Miguel’s leading artists: Leonard Brooks (one of the Festival’s founders), Romeo Tabuena, Lothar Muller, Toller Cranston, David Kestenbaum, Alain Durbecq and Adrian Ross, to name but a few.

You will be able to admire and place your bids for the works of these talented artists in the lobby of Teatro Ángela Peralta during the festival, August 5–16, 6–7pm. The final live auction will be held at the Festival Fiesta Finale in the Hotel Casa Linda (across from the theater) on August 16, with the top bidders invited to the party.

The festival finale party continues with a fashion show with the theme, Baroque Fashion from the XVI to the XX Century, hosted by fashion maven Barbara Porter. Designer Laura Reyes has drawn inspiration from Bach, Beethoven and other great composers of Baroque music—a visual representation of what we feel and experience when hearing this music.

Jackets, bustiers and dresses made of fine upholstery fabrics and exclusive imported silks carry us into a world of fantasy which appeals to all our senses and transports us through time to arrive at a contemporary point of view.

San Miguel Chamber Music Society members or season pass holders guarantee your admission. to the Festival Fiesta Finale at Casa Linda, where Barbara Porter presents her unique fashion show and cocktail reception.

Your donation helps the Society support the Mexican Advanced Music Student Program. Membership is available at the Bellas Artes office or at the theater. For more information call the festival office at 152-8722 or visit Barbara Porter’s Fashion Boutique on Zacateros near the corner of Pila Seca.

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Stringed instrument workshop at the Biblioteca
By Jesús Ibarra

Sergio Huerta has lived in San Miguel de Allende for 15 years. He is one of the few luthiers, (lauderos), or professional stringed instrument makers, in Mexico. On August 30 he will give a workshop on laudería, stringed instrument making, at the Biblioteca Pública. The course is open to anyone over 18.

Jesús Ibarra: How did you start out making stringed instruments?

Sergio Huerta: When I was a kid, I began making Andean instruments by myself, quenas and zampoñas, bamboo flutes used by South American groups. I started with these because I liked that kind of music and it was difficult to get those instruments. Later, when I enrolled at the INBA (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes) to study classical guitar, I found that they also offered a bachelor’s degree in instrument making, and I decided to study that. The school was in Mexico City, but it moved to Querétaro during my last year. Currently, the bachelor’s program in lutherie is a five-year course of study, and the school is still in Querétaro. It is the only school in Latin America that offers this degree. The school opened in September 1987, with maestro Luthfi Becker as founder and director. He was my teacher for five years. With him, I learned to build violas da gamba.

JI: Did you continue playing guitar?

SH: Not professionally, but I still play guitar as a hobby, which is a great help in my guitar making. I used to play at the Market Bistro, but it took my attention away from my real job of making stringed instruments.

JI: What does your work encompass?

SH: I make, repair and restore instruments, and I also give conferences and make exhibits.

JI: Do you make instruments by special order?

SH: Yes, sometimes, and I also make and sell them. Professional and amateur musicians also bring me their instruments to be restored.

JI: Are there many stringed instrument makers in Mexico?

SH: As I said, the INBA school in Querétaro is the only one in Latin America, so many of the stringed instrument makers are in that city. There is also a workshop in Jalapa, and others in Mexico City. Most students in the Jalapa workshop do not finish their studies there but travel to Italy and then return to Jalapa. So, most of the stringed instrument makers in the country are in these three cities.

JI: What kinds of subjects did you study to earn your lutherie degree?

SH: We studied the history of instrument making, acoustical physics, wood biology, photography and many other subjects related to music. Acoustical physics helps us to understand how the instruments move when they produce sound.

JI: Do you use a special type of wood for making the instruments?

SH: For violins, violas and violoncellos we use basically three types of wood. Maple is used for the back part of the instrument, the side pieces and the arm. The front face is made of European spruce (Picea abies) (pino abeto in Spanish). For all the accessories like the fingerboard and the tailpiece, we use ebony, which is a black wood.

JI: What will the workshop include?

SH: It is an introduction to stringed instrument making. We are going to be working on a Mexican folkloric instrument, the son guitar, also known as jarana, which is a kind of small guitar. We will also make a classical guitar in a parallel, but longer, course. It is possible that we could give a violin making course in the future.

For more information or to register for the workshop, see José Luis at the Teatro Santa Ana, Reloj 50A.