Guanajuato: OSUG will play a work filled with drama tonight May 8

Tonight, our symphony orchestra will feature a work by Leonense Javier González Compeán based on the courage of the trainman Jesús Garcia Corona who, at the cost of his life, saved a whole Northern town from an explosion. We'll see if the rhythm of the corrido (popular song) based on the event, El Héroe de Nacozari, will permeate the work.

Other recent concerts in Guanajuato: At the Gene Byron, a preview of an opera we will have the chance to hear in full at the Teatro Juarez on September 5. The University of Guanajuato awarded the work with its prize as the best project submitted. The composer, born in Italy but who has lived for many years in the United States teaches music theory at Stanford. During the first half of the program, he and his wife played pieces of his for viola and piano to an appreciative audience.

The Museo Iconográfico presents musical Thursday evenings starting at 8pm, $40 max. Two weeks ago I went to hear the a Mexican piano team play a concert for four hands (at one piano). Beautiful music, all new to me, by Dvorak, Moszkowski and Rachmaninoff, followed by a piano version of The Nutcracker Suite.

And coming up, mark your calendar, the annual Symposium of Cervantino Studies (go to the Iconográfico website for details. On September 25 to open the symposium, Alberto Cruzprieto, a fine pianist will present a concert at 7:30m, open to the public gratis. Get there early for a good seat..

Dali's Quixote prints at the Iconografico through the Cervantino Festival

 If you only know Dali by his antics, you're in for a profound surprise. The Spanish artist who revered Cervantes' novel, created black-and-white and color prints for a deluxe French edition of Don Quixote. The exhibit, based on a private collection, features both prints and volumes containing the prints from France, the US, China and Spain. We're fortunate to have this superb exhibit in our city. Upstairs at the MIQ, admission 20 pesos.

Weekly concerts at the Museo Iconografico, Thursdays 7pm

This museum is full of paintings and other art work based on the Don Quixote novel, but I never knew why it was called Museo Iconografico. I finally found out and pass the clue along in case you're wondering too:

iconografía (f)
n. iconography, representation of ideas or meanings through visual images; study of such images


The concert on the 27th will feature Marie Park (oboe), Kathy Snelling (bassoon), Cuautemoc Trejo (flute) & Anna Cervantes (piano) playing 20th and 21st century music. The concerts take place in the sculpture patio, itself worth the price of admission. Cost: cost 50 pesos, 20 with an INAPAM card.