The musicians from the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) have begun their summer vacation following a successful two-concert series in California.
Remarkably, this was the first time the full orchestra has performed in the United States during its 102-year history.
The concerts were held in the Bovard Auditorium of the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles and the Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.
The first performance on July 13 was part of the celebration “2017 año de México en Los Ángeles” (2017 year of Mexico in Los Angeles), organized by the Mexican Consulate General in that city.
Led by their musical director Marco Parisotto, the orchestra interpreted works by Silvestre Revueltas, Arturo Márquez, Javier Álvarez, Aarón Copland and George Gershwin.
The most emotional part of the presentation, however, was the participation of Jalisco-born composer Juan Pablo Contreras, who conducted his most recent work, “Mariachitlán,” which tries to recreate the sensation of a visit to Guadalajara’s Plaza de Mariachi.
A standing ovation was guaranteed when the JPO finished the concert with renditions of two famous Mexican melodies: “Guadalajara” and “Huapango.”
Three days later, the JPO opened the Festival MEX AM 2017 in San Francisco. Joining the orchestra for this show was Tambuco, the Grammy-winning percussion group from Jalisco. Again, the program ended in great acclamation, with Parisotto returning for several encores following the playing of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” Suite (Catfish Row).
The JPO returns to the stage of Guadalajara’s Teatro Degollado in the fall. The third season of 2017 begins September 14 with an all-Mexican program (Revueltas, Marquez, Moncayo), also featuring Contreras’ “Mariachitlán.”