By Francisco Guevara | Co-Executive Director
We’re excited to report that Arquetopia’s educational music programs for youth have been solidly growing! This past spring, Arquetopia introduced its music programs to an audience of young clarinet students from all over Oaxaca, Mexico. The performance was a chance for Christopher Davis, Arquetopia’s Co-Executive Director and Director of Music Programs, to showcase his own skills as well as the skills of his star student, a thirteen-year-old clarinet virtuoso from Oaxaca named Ángel Montellano. Ángel began studying clarinet with Chris at Arquetopia Oaxaca in July of 2012 and fast became the rising star of the studio, rivaling the artistry of university-level clarinetists of the USA. Previously Ángel was self-taught and served as principal clarinet of the Orquesta Esperanza Azteca (Aztec Hope Orchestra), the largest youth orchestra in the area. The two of them performed works by Mendelssohn to a packed room in Oaxaca’s main university’s Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) which is housed in the Exconvento de San Jose, a majestic former Catholic convent from the 1500′s. Afterward, Chris held an open discussion about the launching of Arquetopia’s music education and performance programs and the scholarship program that is now available for all participants.
Arquetopia’s music activities continue this summer with the highly anticipated arrival of Lisa Maresch, a tremendous Japanese-American concert pianist and prominent music educator based in Los Angeles, California, who will be Artist-in-Residence at Arquetopia for four weeks. During her special residency in Puebla and Oaxaca, Lisa will participate in musical collaborations with young students in Arquetopia’s programs as well as with Arquetopia's adult professionals (see below); she will also perform solo piano recitals for the public of both communities.
Upcoming this summer are two key concerts sponsored by Arquetopia, the first one in July at the Capilla del Arte, a beautiful art museum and concert space of the Universidad de las Americas (University of the Americas) in Puebla’s downtown Historic District; and the other in August at the Exconvento de Santo Domingo, another magnificent former convent in Oaxaca’s Historic District. These concerts will showcase the new Ensamble Arquetopia, a new “collective” of international musicians dedicated to performing chamber music from the Renaissance to the present. As each concert consists of different configurations of musicians from this “collective” of both adult professional and outstanding youth musicians, from piano and flute to string quartet with clarinet, this ensemble is always evolving from concert to concert. For these summer concerts, the musicians featured are American clarinetist and Artistic Director Christopher Davis; violinist Jonathan Avila and clarinetist Citlalli Rosas, both of whom are members of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Puebla (State Symphony Orchestra of Puebla); youth clarinetist Ángel Montellano of Oaxaca; and special guest artist Lisa Maresch, pianist of Japan/USA. The August concert in Oaxaca will be Ángel’s formal public debut as soloist.
Thank you profusely for your past and continued support. We look forward to keeping you updated on the exciting activities we have planned for the upcoming months. To be able to create and maintain a quality program, with important opportunities for talented and dedicated young musicians in one of the poorest parts of the world, is truly a miracle for which we are grateful.
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