Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra and a cast of vocalists from Mexico, in what could be the only event of its kind outside Mexico, will commemorate Mexican Independence Day in a concert Sunday, Sept. 15, at Fox Tucson Theatre.
The free concert, which has filled up the past five years, is a collaboration of the community orchestra, the Consulate of Mexico in Tucson, the Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Tucson and Fox Theatre.
SASO Music Director Linus Lerner, who will be at the podium for the concert, said folks come from as far away as Hermosillo, Sonora, and throughout the state for the concert. Admission is free and the concert includes performances by winners of the fourth annual Linus Lerner International Voice Competition held during the Opera Festival of San Luis Potosí in Mexico in July.
Lerner directs that festival, which features SASO as its orchestra, with Liliana del Conde, a soprano who is among the guest soloists for Sunday’s concert.
The lineup also includes Sunnyside High School’s Mariachi Los Diablitos de Sunnyside and appearances by Ricardo Piñeda from the Mexican Consulate of Tucson and Ghumel Gomes, president of the Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Tucson.
SASO was tapped to do the annual concert by Piñeda, who has described the event as a way to “share with the public our rich historical and cultural legacy and our different traditions.” The event commemorates the Mexican call to arms against Spain on Sept. 16, 1810, that led to an 11-year struggle for independence. The conflict ended with the Cordoba Treaties that led to the birth of Mexico as a nation.
Sunday’s concert includes “Huapango” by Mexican composer José Pablo Moncayo, two pieces from “Cinco Bailes” composed by long-time SASO member Richard White, well-known opera arias and popular songs performed by the winners of the Linus Lerner International Voice Competition and a special appearance by Mariachi Los Diablitos de Sunnyside.
The concert is the unofficial start to SASO’s 40th anniversary season that includes collaborations with Tucson-area high schools of Carl Orff’s choral masterpiece “Carmina Burana” and a season finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. For season details and tickets, visit sasomusic.org
It also marks the start of Lerner’s 11th season with SASO. In addition to the Tucson orchestra, he is music director of the Rio Grande do Norte Symphony Orchestra in his native Brazil and spends his summer guest conducting around the world including a turn late last May in London, leading the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a recording of works by Mendelssohn. The album is expected to be released this fall.
Sunday’s concert begins at 7 p.m.
