On March 21, Los Cantantes del Lago gave a benefit concert in Atequiza, a small pueblo in the municipality of Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos.
Historically, Los Cantantes del Lago has consistently reached out to Mexican communities in outlying areas around Lake Chapala. As part of their mission, the choir supports young musicians, the performance of works of Mexican composers, and shares their music with the Mexican community.
Founded in 1556, Atequiza is a small town with roughly 7,000 inhabitants, located less than ten miles from Chapala. Older than Guadalajara, it was formerly part of the “Hacienda La Florida.” Between the 1870s and 1900s, the most stylized buildings of Atequiza (Teatro, Hacienda La Florida, the church steeple and the Casa Grande) were built in the same architectural style common to the Porfirio Díaz regime.
For the past 20 years, Francisco Javier Solis and his wife have been taking turns as Ixtlahuacán’s culture secretary and have worked valiantly in getting the famous Teatro de Atequiza restored. The building was in ruins until 2010, when money for renovations were allotted through a bicentennial celebration fund for the restoration of historic buidings.
The Teatro Atequiza.
Los Cantantes del Lago was thrilled to be invited to perform at this historic theater. Many members of the choral group were unfamiliar with Atequiza and so it was a memorable experience for the group to visit this village and share their music.
Los Cantantes del Lago presented their “Spring Fever” concert offering a variety of music styles. While many in the audience may not have known the English lyrics, they were familiar with the sounds of the Beach Boys, Staying Alive, Disco Fever, Dancing Queen, What a Wonderful World. The audience was swept away by the choir’s spectacular performance of Moses Hogan’s spiritual “Elijah Rock.”
Under the direction of Timothy G. Ruff Welch, Los Cantantes del Lago will be performing at the Auditorio del La Ribera on Tuesday, March 28, 7 p.m. and Wednesday, March 29, 4 p.m.
In a rich variety of music, listeners will find something to enjoy: disco, swing, ballads, spirituals, gospel and Leonard Cohen’s hit “Hallelujah.” Los Cantantes will be joined by members of the a capella group Vox Ens4mble, who will be singing selections from the Beatles and Abba, with Jimmy Barto on trumpet and Fabián Mejía Díaz on drums. Justin Flores Cogswell and Georg Esteban Oetling Ramirez (ages 12 and 14) will delight the audience with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Pie Jesu.”
Los Cantantes del Lago invites everyone at lakeside to come and reminisce with music of days gone by. It’s time to catch a little Spring Fever!