ASA

The Ajijic Society of the Arts (ASA) will meet Monday, August 4, 10 a.m. at Hotel La Nueva Posada, Donato Guerra 9 in Ajijic.

ASA, with about 95 members currently, meets the second Monday of every month. All those interested in the plastic arts are welcome.

For more information contact President Deena Hafker at 766-2249.

Opera and more

Get set for what is bound to be a real high point in the summer cultural season. VIVA la Musica! presents a gala concert of the most beloved opera arias and Broadway favorites Thursday, August 7, 7:30 p.m. at Auditorio de la Ribera del Lago in La Floresta, Ajijic.

Husband and wife team baritone Hector Lopez and mezzo-soprano Patricia Hernandez will be part of an ensemble of singers to grace the stage of Auditorio de la Ribera del Lago with a concert of favorite operatic arias and Broadway show-tunes on August 7.

Rodriguez has sung to high acclaim many times at Lakeside; first as a student of Harlan Snow’s vocal studio and later as a student at Rice University with scholarships augmented by VIVA la Musica!

He was born in Guadalajara in 1980 and began his musical career as a boy soprano in the choir of the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, eventually graduating from its School of Music. He joined Harlan Snow’s vocal studio in 2002 and took part in master classes presented by members of the music faculties of Rice University and the University of Texas in Austin. He also sang with the Rice University Chorale.

Besides continuing to sing in various venues in and around Guadalajara, Rodriguez has conducted concerts in Zapopan and in La Paz, Baja, California. He is the founder and conductor of the Senior Choir of the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. He will graduate with a master’s degree in music from the University of Texas at Austin in December of this year.

Husband and wife team mezzo-soprano Paty Hernandez and baritone Hector Lopez are also familiar to Lakeside audiences who have had the privilege of witnessing their astonishing progress over the last several years.

Guadalajara native Hernandez received her bachelor’s degree in voice at the University of Guadalajara with Roberto Gutierrez. Following her graduation she took private lessons with Harlan Snow. She won a scholarship to study at Rice University in Houston in 2001, where she earned her master’s degree in voice performance. Her busy professional life has led to performances in the “Elixir of Love,” “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” and “La Clemenza de Tito.” She sang the role of Mistress of Novices in “Suor Angelica” by Giacomo Puccini and Mrs. Hayes in Carl Floyd’s “Susannah” in the Amalfi Coast Festival in Italy.

Lopez, also born in Guadalajara, took his first lessons with his father, then continued his musical studies at the University of Guadalajara, studying voice with Maestro Marco Verdin. He received his master’s degree in voice performance from Rice University in Houston and has studied vocal technique with Enrique Suarez, Harlan Snow and Joyce Farwell. He has participated in numerous recitals of opera, zarzuela, oratorio, art song and lieder.

His operatic experience includes singing the roles of the Mandarin in “Turandot,” Marullo in “Rigoletto,” Dr. Bartolo in “The Marriage of Figaro,” Don Alfonso in “Cosi Fan Tutte,” Germont in “La Traviata,” Figaro in “The Barber of Seville,” “Lescaut in “Manon Lescaut,” Enrique in “Lucia de Lammermoor,” Dr. Malatesta in “Don Pasquale” and Michele in “Il Tabarro. “

Guerrero is the in-house pianist with the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra.

The operatic part of the program will include favorite arias by Rossini, Mozart, Verdi and Bizet, opening with Rodriguez’s stunning interpretation of “Largo al factotum” from “The Barber of Seville” and finishing before the intermission with “The Toast” from Verdi’s “La Traviata” with soprano Natalia Ramos and tenor Cesar Delgado.

The second half of the program will include the greatest of Broadway hits from Gershwin, Coward, Loewe, Bernstein, Webber, Rodgers and Schonberg, beginning with “Summertime” from “Porgy and Bess” and finishing up with the entire cast singing “Tonight” from “West Side Story.”

Tickets are 250 pesos for VIVA members and 280 pesos for non-members, on sale from Monday, July 28 through August 1 and August 4,5 and 6 or (until they are sold out) 10 a.m. to Noon at the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) Tickets, Etc. booth.

Guided art tour

Artist Karl Barnhart is back in town and, with his wife Wendy Lyons, will be giving a guided tour of his personal collection of 40 works of art covering the past 25 years of their travels. The tours are set for Sunday, July 27 at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and he will explain the stories behind these works. Light refreshments will be served. The address is Brisas Poniente 14, Las Brisas, in Chapala. Call Wendy at (376)765-4915 for more information.

Art in Chapala

An interesting art exhibit entitled “Let the Wind Baptize Me” is on display through August 9 in the upstairs gallery of the Gonzalez Gallo Cultural Center housed in the old Chapala train station on Av. Gonzalez Gallo in Chapala. The exhibition is the work of students from Torreon,  Coahuila, who used paintings to interpret  the poetry of Enriqueta Ochoa.

Juan Navarro will teach classes in engraving on Fridays from  3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and ceramics on Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

These classes are free of charge except for materials. Enrollment is limited to 15 and students can start at any time.   Further information is available the center,  765-7424.