Pro Música Concert
M5–Mexican Brass
Sun, Sep 27, 5pm (reception)
St. Paul’s Church 
Cardo 6
250/150/80 pesos


Bach, brass and The Casbah
By Michael Pearl and Randy Harriman

M5-Mexican Brass returns to San Miguel for one concert only, presented by Pro Música. The group recently completed a 20-concert tour of California. Their success is reflected in the name change from “Metales de Morelia” to “Mexican Brass.”

In the 1720s, J.S. Bach wrote the music forming the first half of the program. For once you can switch on your cell phones and use your video games during the performance. One of the pieces is Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which features extensively as a ringtone and on soundtracks of many movies, games and rock music hits.

M5 presents Bach’s Fugue in G Minor, Orchestral Suite No. 2 and the Contrapunctus No. 3. Other works are based on Bach’s sacred choral music. Cantata No. 147 depicts Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth when she was pregnant with Jesus; better known as Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, and the Magnificat, depicting Elizabeth pregnant with John (the Baptist). Finally, Cantata No. 56 portrays a scripturally based nautical theme, alluding to one’s voyage through life.

Pro Música invites the audience to a free opening-of-the-season wine and botanas reception after the performance. These occasions are tremendously popular; buy early to avoid disappointment.

Gerónimo Giménez was the nineteenth-century Spanish composer who invented the Zarzuela, a form of comic operetta, the genre in which Plácido Domingo got his start and which now thrives in Mexico. We will hear his La Boda (The Marriage) de Luis Alonso.

New Yorker Michael Kamen was trained classically at The Juilliard School and became a fixture on the Hollywood music scene, working with Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Roger Daltrey and David Bowie. His film music includes scores for The Dead Zone, Brazil and the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard series. Kamen was nominated for two Academy Awards, won three Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Emmy. M5 will play his Quintet for Brass, the last piece he wrote before his death in 2003.

Kerry Turner, born in San Antonio in 1960, started writing music at age 10 and won the San Antonio Music Society Composition Competition the next year. Turner joined the American Horn Quartet in 1985 and started composing works for brass ensembles. His tone poem The Casbah of Tetouan was conceived during a visit to Morocco, when Turner got lost in the souk. I heard M5 play it earlier this year and think you will love its exotic sound and intriguing instrumentation.

Tickets for the concert are on sale at La Tienda in the Biblioteca (Insurgentes 25) and La Conexión (Aldama 3). You can also buy them at St. Paul’s (Cardo 6) Monday to Friday, 11am–2pm, and at the door half an hour before concert time.

Michael Pearl is President of Pro Música. For details of all concerts, go to www.promúsicasma.com