SASO celebrates Mexico's independence; Dove of Peace fetes church's organ

Linus Lerner took his Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra to Mexico over the summer to play in his Opera Festival of San Luis.

And this weekend, he’s bringing a bit of that festival to Tucson to participate in the volunteer orchestra’s fourth annual Mexican Independence Day concert Friday, Sept. 15, at the Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St.

In addition to the orchestra, winners of the 2017 Linus Lerner International Voice Competition, held during the festival, will perform arias and other art songs including “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Saint-Saëns’ “Samson and Delilah”; “Habanera” from Bizet’s “Carmen”; and Maria Grever’s “Cuando vuelva a tu lado.” Special guests include Liliana del Conde, a well-known singer in Mexico; mezzo-soprano Diana Peralta; baritone José González Caro; and composer/conductor Alejandro Sánchez-Navarro.

Friday’s concert, cosponsored by the Consulate of Mexico in Tucson and the Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Tucson, comes on the eve of Mexican Independence Day, which is celebrated Sept. 16 to commemorate Mexico’s liberation from Spain. Tickets are free on a first-come, first-served basis at the Fox Tucson Theatre Box Office or the Mexican Consulate office, 3915 E. Broadway.

Also this week on Tucson’s classical music front:

Conductor László Veres will lead his twin orchestras — the volunteer Arizona Symphonic Winds and the professional Tucson Pops Orchestra — in their parks concerts series. The Winds take the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at Veres’ namesake amphitheater at Udall Park, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road. The Pops are up on Sunday, Sept. 17, at Reid Park’s DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, East 22nd Street and South Country Club Road. Admission is free to either, although donations are accepted.
Phoenix-based organist/harpsichordist Guy Whatley returns to what has become his favorite stomping grounds — Tucson — to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. His recital Sunday, Sept. 17, at Dove of Peace Lutheran Church, 665 W. Roller Coaster Road, also will be the last performance on the church’s pipe organ, which is undergoing a restoration.

Whatley’s concert is the “before” segment of the church’s “Before and After” series of organ concerts commemorating the congregation’s plans to invest $250,000 to restore and expand its 40-year-old Moeller pipe organ. The plan is to double the instrument’s size. He will return sometime in 2018 — when the project is expected to be finished — to perform the “after” concert.

Sunday’s concert, featuring works by Bach and Georg Böhm, starts at 3 p.m. Admission is free.