By Letty Fernandez
RIO GRANDE VALLEY – UTRGV Patron of the Arts has unveiled an online concert series designed to lift the spirits during this COVID19 pandemic.
The first online concert was Wednesday, April 8, on the UTRGV Patron of the Arts Facebook page. In coming weeks, the concerts will feature faculty, guest artists and student ensembles on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6 p.m. The concerts will include premieres as well as concerts from years past.
“During these difficult times, we turn to music to bring comfort to our students, friends and patrons,” said Dr. Dahlia Guerra, UTRGV assistant vice president for Public Art. “Our Patron of the Arts Online series will share the musical talents of our School of Music faculty and students with a variety of wonderful concerts that everyone can enjoy in the comfort of their homes.”
The second concert – scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, April 10, will feature the award-winning UTRGV Mariachi Aztlan and will be a look back at some wonderful memories from the university’s nationally recognized mariachi program.
The concert will include a sampling of performances of when the mariachi students performed with the Houston Grand Opera in 2010 and 2012, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2013 and 2015. There will be excerpts from the premiere performances of two original mariachi operas –
Cruzan la Cara de la Luna, and El Pasado Nunca Se Termina, both composed by Jose"Pepe" Martinez of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán and libretto by theater director and novelist Leonard Foglia. The performances were taped live during a television broadcast of Chicago Tonight! in Chicago in 2012.
“This will be a great way to keep the concert series going and also give folks an outlet to be inspired by great music diverting their attention from the health crisis we are facing,” said Dr. Kurt Martinez, UTRGV professor of Music.
The online concert series launched on Wednesday with UTRGV School of Music professors Krista Jobson and Hector Rodriguez, who have performed all over the world together as the flute and guitar duo “Duo Aldebaran.”
The online concert series will be broadcast via, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
For information on future concerts, visit patron.utrgv.edu.
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.
