Kora Concert
John Hughes will be playing traditional and original compositions on the Kora, a 22-stringed West African instrument during an intimate house concert on Sunday, January 11, 4 p.m.
Hughes, a luthier, made his handsome Kora. He is also a talented composer, performer and vocalist. A 360 Xochi Quetzal music resident, Hughes drove to Lakeside from Brattleboro, Vermont. He will talk about the history and music of the Kora during the concert at Gonzalez Gallo 13A.
Tickets are from 100 to 250 pesos on a sliding scale. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for tickets and to obtain
directions.
To learn more about Hughes and to hear him play the Kora visit http://johnhughesmusic.com/Welcome.html and www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAO1djiBeuQ.
Call for Singers
Los Cantantes del Lago is looking for choristers. Rehearsals for the spring concert “Love and Peace” will be from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, beginning on Tuesday, January 20 at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church. Potential members of the group can check out the information at www.loscantantesdellago.com and then fill out the “Join Us” form to contact Cantantes Music Director Tim Welch. Selections for the March concert will be accompanied by piano and Blue Velvet, a local jazz trio.
Baroque Trio
Lovers of early music are in for a treat on Thursday, January 15, 7 p.m. when the Baroque Flute Trio performs works by Bach, Telemann and Marcello in Chapala´s Old Train Station. The concert sponsored by Viva La Musica will feature Hans Peter Aull on harpsichord, Eduardo Arambula on recorder and lakeside’s own Areli Medeles on cello.
Tickets at 200 pesos are available at Diane Pearl Colecciones and the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) box office on Thursdays and Fridays, from 10 a.m. to noon, as well as at the door before the concert.
Art Auction
Efren Gonzalez, director of the Ajijic Cultural Center, is finalizing details for a Friday, January 16, 4 p.m. art auction at the Ajijic plaza. Works from some of the area’s best-known artists will be on the block with a portion of the day’s proceeds going to the construction of the theater in the cultural center.
Artists in this auction will includepainters Enrique Velazquez, Juan Navarro, Bruno Mariscal, Antonio Lopez Vega, Javier Zaragoza, Gonzalez, photographer Xill Fessenden, and cantera sculptor Rigoberto Navarro.
As usual there will be plenty of good food and drinks and some entertainment so everyone will have a good time during the day, while shoppers can check out the art before the bidding begins.
Said Gonzalez: “These auctions are moving the theater project toward completion. In the last auction, we sold 65 to 70 percent of the works displayed and we netted about 10,000 pesos. I had earmarked the money for fabric to make curtain
s, but then we received a donation of theater curtains from the maestro of the pastorela group that performed at the center. Now, I am hoping I can combine that money with the proceeds from this new auction and have enough to build the catwalk or bridge up over the stage and maybe do a little preliminary lighting.”
Plein Air
Galeria Sol Mexicano at Colón 13 in Ajijic will feature the work of the Plein Air Painters of Jalisco. The show opens with a reception on Friday, January 16, from 3-6 p.m.
The Plein Air Painters is a newly formed diverse group of painters that converges at predetermined locations several times a month to paint outdoors. Their goal is to establish themselves as professional painters who endeavor to create exceptional plein air paintings of various environments in the state of Jalisco.
Qualifications for membership are stiff. Members must be serious, dedicated plein air painters, producing work of sufficient merit and quality to meet the criteria set by the admissions committee. They must paint with the group at least two days a month to be considered for associate membership. To become an exhibiting or signature member, a substantial body of the artist’s work must be juried in by a panel. Work submitted for exhibition must be 75 percent completed on site to be considered eligible as a plein air piece. Meet the artists at the opening for more information about the organization.
Symphony Trip
Viva La Musica has arranged bus transportation to the 2015 inaugural concert of the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) at the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara on Friday, January 16. The orchestra’s “Brilliance of Brahms” progr
am will feature extraordinary pianist Jorge Federico Osorio playing “Piano Concerto No.2” by Brahms. The Los Angeles Times acclaimed Osorio as “one of the more elegant and accomplished pianist on the planet”. The program also includes “Symphony in D” by Cesar Franck.
The Viva bus will depart at 4:30 p.m. from just west of Ajijic´s Farmacia Guadalajara to allow time for dinner at a choice of Guadalajara restaurants before the 8:30 p.m. concert. Tickets 300 pesos for Viva members and 400 for non-members, are available at the Lake Chapala Society box office from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursdays and Fridays, phone Marshall Krantz at (376) 766-2834 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Dualing Shows
Geraldine Classen will open “Living Color” – her first solo Mexican show – on Sunday, January 18, 4 p.m. at the Ajijic Cultural Center.
“My work is my response to the landscape of streetlife, especially in Mexico,” said Classen, who has received an Ajijic Society of the Arts “best in show” title for one of her works. “Wherever I travel I draw on canvas the scene before me: the traffic, the people, animals, market produce and everything that makes the place unique. When I return to my studio I simplify the shapes
and composition. It is the color that is most important and that captures my imagination and creates my own distinctive style. Whether I use oil, acrylics or mixed media collage, I strive to share the joy I feel in the location.”
She added, “This solo show allows me to exhibit a large group of work, mainly of local scenes, in a great location here in Ajijic.”
Also opening at the Ajijic Cultural Center on Sunday, January 18, 4 p.m. is a show of abstract watercolors created by well-respected Guadalajara artist Lilith Valdez. Both shows will remain on display in the center through January 29.
Trilogy
Lakeside’s Mark Rome who brought the Piano Rojo to Ajijic has created a trilogy of stellar events. Each begins with a specially themed dinner in an area restaurant and then blends into a performance in the Auditorio de la Ribera in La Floresta.
The first performance in the trilogy launches on Saturday, January 31, 7 p.m. with the triumphant return of Montreal-based trilingual chanteuse Joëlle Rabu, with her pianist Nico Rhodes. Together they present “Encore Piaf … and So Much More” – a European-style cabaret show featuring the enchanting music of beloved French cabaret diva Édith Piaf.
The Encore Piaf dinner is presented by El Jardin de Ninette, at Javier Mina 7 in Ajijic. The three-course menu includes French onion soup, beef filet with a cabernet sau
vignon butter and blue cheese Sauce or fresh fish filet in a white wine sauce, and finished with creme brûlée for only 250 pesos. Reservations are required; call (376) 766-4905.
The opening act for Encore Piaf is Les Femmes des Serge, who amazed audiences last season at El Piano Rojo with their unique and quirky instrumentations and all-French lyrics. Select tickets now at VallartaTickets.com (Visa, Mastercard, Paypal accepted). Ten percent of the proceeds for this performance will benefit the School for Special Children.
Other events in the trilogy will take place at the Auditorio on Saturday, February 7, when the highly acclaimed singing string quartet of men, Well-Strung, perform following a concert meal at La Una. Wrapping up the trio of special evenings will be Hollywood royalty Lorna Luft on Tuesday, February 17. Opening for Luft will be local violinist Victor Garcia Rodriguez who will make his stage debut. Luft is being presented by Number 4 Restaurant.
The Latin Grammy winning Chocho Lopez Big Band will perform a tribute to Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Harry James, Pérez Prado, Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston and more on Thursday, January 22 and Friday, January 23, 6:15 p.m., at the Auditorio de la Ribera. The concert will include a special performance by Fela Dominguez. Tickets at 550 pesos are available at the Lake Chapala Society ticket box, the auditorium and several local businesses.