Arts & crafts
Make sure you visit the fabulous Feria Maestros del Arte this weekend, when 65 of the best folk art artisans from various corners of Mexico will be showing their exquisite creations and selling them at prices you would only get if you visited their home studios.
The festival is open on Saturday, November 17, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, November 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Plaza de la Ribera, Rio Bravo 10 in west Ajijic.
There will be lots of great entertainment – including regional music and dancing – and great food just perfect for the occasion.
The entry price is just 50 pesos. You’ll be able to enter raffles for goods and other prizes and help save the rich folk art patrimony of Mexico that is in danger of disappearing. Don’t miss this event!
Show & sell
Some great pieces of Mexican art and furniture and decorations from the 17th to 20th century will be on sale (and display) from Saturday, November 17 to Friday, November 23 at Barbara’s Bazaar (Independencia 7, Ajijic).
Among the articles are fascinating 19th century retablos from the estate of Fred Pottinger of San Antonio, Texas. (Retablos are very collectible small oil paintings on tin, wood or copper that were used in home altars to venerate Catholic saints.)
You will also find a selection of rare 18th century reliquaries and furnishings from some of the most famous historical homes of Mexico.
Paintings by Felix Bernadelli and some lovely pieces by Salvador Tarazona and Armando Nuñez will be on exhibit only.
VIVA changes
VIVA la Musica has changed the date of its upcoming Opera Gala to Thursday, December 6, 7 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Riberas del Pilar.
The program will feature tenor Cesar Delgado and soprano Patricia Perez accompanied by Andres Sarre of Guadalajara. They will sing solos and duets from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Puccini’s “La Rondina,” “Manon Lescaut” and “La Boheme,” de Falla’s “La Vida Breve” and more. Encores will include “Maria” and “Tonight” from “West Side Story.”
This will be a truly festive occasion and a delight for opera aficionados. Tickets are 200 pesos for members, 300 pesos for non-members and 100 pesos for students. They are available at the Lake Chapala Society on Thursdays and Fridays and from December 3-6. They are also on sale at Diane Pearl Colecciones and, if you’re lucky, at the door.
VIVA and the orchestra
VIVA la Musica has arranged bus trips to the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara to experience the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) in concert.
Alondra de la Parra, the dynamic new conductor and musical director of the state-funded orchestra, will hold the baton for all the remaining concerts of the winter season. They are:
Sunday, November 18, 12:30 p.m. Sibilius’ “Finlandia” and Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 8.”
Sunday, November 25, noon. Beethoven’s “Leonore Overture No.3,” Liszt’s “Piano Concerto No. 1” and Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony.” (Contact Marshall Krantz at 766-2834 immediately if you want a chance at this one.)
Friday, November 30, 8:30 p.m. Greig’s “Piano Concerto,” and Mahler’s “Symphony No. 4.”
Tickets for the concert and round trip bus ride are 250 for VIVA members and 350 for non-members.
Going to the dogs
Barbara Harkness and Valerie Siegel will launch their new book, “Who Rescued Who: Tales of Street Dogs and the People Who Love Them,” at three local book-signing events:
Wednesday, November 28, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Oasis Cloud Internet Café in Riberas del Pilar.
Tuesday, December 4, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Yve’s Restaurant on the lakefront near the Ajijic pier.
Wednesday, December 12, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Early Bird Café at Ocampo 30 in Ajijic.
Thirty percent of the profits will be contributed to local charities: half to the Animal Buddies Dog/Cat Food drive that provides food to the local shelters and half to the Rotary Club of Ajijic for the Dog Assisted Therapy Program.
The book will be available at selected retail locations and can be ordered from Amazon from November 19.
The new website www.WhoRescuedWho.mx is up and running and will stay updated with photos from the launch and the signing events and information about where the book can be purchased.
Mexican music
The Orquesta Tipica de Chapala celebrates its second anniversary with a recital under the title of “An Anthology of Mexican Music” on Tuesday, November 27, 6 p.m. at the Centro Cultural Gonzalez Gallo in Chapala.
Expect to hear the distinctive music from the states of Veracruz, Guerrero and Chiapas, as well as a selection of romantic ballads.
The group was formed by fine musicians keen to preserve Mexico’s rich musical heritage heritage. They are not part of any governmental program and are unpaid.
Tickets cost 100 pesos and include a drink and snacks. The program will probably last until about 10 p.m. with an intermission break about half way. This portends to be an excellent concert and should not be missed.
The tickets are on sale at the Pagina office at Avenida Madero 415 A, Altos, in Chapala and at the front desk of Actinver Bank in Ajijic.
Naked Stage
The Naked Stage Readers’ Theatre will be dark for November. They will return December 28, 29 and 30 with a reading of “Private Lives” by Noel Coward.
Auditions for “The Exonerated” will be held December 10, with shows slated for January 25, 26 and 27. Look for more details in later editions of this publication.