Classical guitar concert
An evening of classical and Spanish, Latin fiery, sensuous, jazz-flavored playing by internationally acclaimed Peruvian guitarist Alfredo Muro will be held Friday, March 8, 7 p.m. at the Centro Cultural Gonzalez Gallo in Chapala.
The program features pieces by Celedonio Romero, Pixinguinha and Astor Piazzolla. Antonio Muro has performed throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Tickets, 100 pesos, are available at the center.
The Spotlight Club
Miss Conception’s TV Land show is Saturday, March 9, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Get a laugh from Baywatch, Wonder Woman, I Love Lucy, Will and Grace, the Golden girls and more.
The Ol’ Country Boys play March 15.
The Spotlight Club and Sally Carlisle Productions bring Ginetta’s “Vendetta” to the stage Saturday, March 16.
Originally from New York, Ginetta M, who plays pocket trumpet, sings and composes, has been leading her world acclaimed jazzy funk original band with her special brand of high-octane entertainment around the world, from Moscow, Paris, Beirut, Jamaica, California, Canada to Mexico, continuing to spread her gospel of “ Peace thru Music.”
The Kinsey Sicks, the United States’ favorite Dgraapella Beautyshop Quartet, bring their Naked Drag Queens Singing show to lakeside Sunday March 17, 6 p.m. and Monday, March 18, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
All Spotlight Club shows are at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Reservations: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 331-845-1523.
Jazz and more
Bette Midler, The Devine Miss M., will be performed by Canadian songstress Miss Sandi D, accompanied by Puerto Vallarta legends Don and Rhona on guitar and piano. March 10 and 11. The show features many of Midler’s hits including “The Rose,” “Wind Beneath My Wings,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Friends” as well as skits, stories and comedy.
Rezzonante will play a concert with a focus on jazz, funk, soul and pop Sunday, March 10, 5 p.m. at the Auditorio de la Ribera. Tickets, 250 pesos, are available at Diane Pearl, Mia’s Boutique, the Auditorio and Casa Domenech.
Funding classical musicians
Then email your bid in pesos for the item number to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..The Northern Lights Festival de Febrero Education Fund provides support funding for up-and-coming Mexican classical musicians. Many local sponsors of the Northern Lights festival give in kind donations, more then 60 of which the education fund offers in an e-mail online silent auction that runs from through Sunday, March 10. All proceeds from this auction go to the education fund. To see the items, go to festivaldefebrero.com/auction.
Three rounds of this auction will be held. Once you bid, you will get two more emails asking you to check the bids online, and finally an email saying who got the item.
At the end of the auction, the winners will be announced and they should arrange to make payment within three days; otherwise the item will go to the next highest bidder.
Benefit for Victor
A benefit luncheon with cabaret performances will be held for local violinist Victor Garcia, Sunday, March 10, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Manix Restaurant. This well-known and talented Mexican musician has recently been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
The luncheon will include a pig roast with all the trimmings, as well as several vegetarian options. The entertainment will start at 1:30 p.m. and includes performances by Ignacio Garcia, Patteye Simpson, Doug Voet, Suzanne Bullock, Mike Liesenbach, Karen Procter, Michael Reason and, potentially, Victor himself.
Tickets, 550 pesos, are available at Diane Pearl. Call Manix to make a reservation after the purchase of their tickets, (376) 766-0061. Manix is located at Ocampo 57, Ajijic. Valet parking will be available.
LCS Authors Event
Judy King will give a reading from her new book, “Echoes from the Wall,” Wednesday, March 13, 2 p.m. at the Lake Chapala Society’s Riberas Authors Event. The book highlights the stories of 13 Mexicans, recounting the fears, frustrations and successes that marked their U.S. border crossings.
An exhibition of oils, watercolors and colored pencil by Bev Kepheart, a member of the Lake Chapala Painters Guild, will also be up and Guadalajara-based classical guitarist Ivan Olivares will perform. A cash bar will be available. King will be signing her book. Information: riberasauthors.com.
Film Aficionados
Lake Chapala Society members can take advantage of Film Aficionados screenings each Thursday, 2 p.m.
March 14, “Widows” (2018, United States) will be screened. Four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal acts conspire to create a future better than what is immediately in front of them (124 minutes).
Plein Air painting exhibit
This unique art genre will be on display at Galeria Sol Mexicano March 15 to April 10. Plein Air, a phrase borrowed from French, describes the act of painting outdoors where the painter reproduces the actual visual conditions seen at the time of the work. This is very different from studio painting where an artist may slowly develop his painting from photos in order to create a certain predetermined look. Plein Air tends to be more direct and visceral as the artist may have only two to three hours to attempt to capture the overall mood, feeling or essence of the scene. If done well, the painting can literally vibrate with the energy of life! The opening is Friday, March 15, 4-6 p.m.
Women behind the lens
Works by 11 female photographers will be featured in the exhibit “A la Luz de Una Mujer” (in the light of a woman), opening Saturday, March 16, 6 p.m., at the Centro Cultural González Gallo, Chapala’s former railway station, in commemoration of International Women’s Day.
Sponsored by Fundacíón Alégrate, the show will include images by Rocío Lojero, Yolanda Elizondo, Adelina López Arce, Mary López Arce, Betty Godoy Carmen Jiménez, Yaskara Godin, along with ITré Scirpo and María Paola Blum from Italy; Cathy Chalvignac from France; and Xill Fessenden from the United States.
Ukuleles
Club Ukulele de Laguna, together with the Academia de Ukuleles de la Ribera, present A Community of Music, Saturday, March 16, 4 p.m. at Casa Libertad restaurant on the highway in San Antonio Tlayacapan, next to Century 21.
Billed as “Ukulele Bringing People Together,” this is the first joint concert by the lakeside adult and children’s uke groups. Featuring players from 8 to 80, this event is part sing-along, part concert. There will be old familiar tunes, rock and roll tunes, and perhaps even an Irish tune or two in deference to the date.
Some of the players are expats, and some are Mexican. All of them share the love of making music on their favorite instrument: the ukulele.
Admission to the event is free. A collection will be taken to benefit the children’s program – the Academia de Ukuleles de la Ribera.
Competition art
The Ajijic Society of the Arts will hold its 36th annual judged show Saturday, March 16, 4-6 p.m. at the Centro Cultural Ajijic on the Jardin. Meet the artists and participate in voting for the people’s choice award. The showing will be up through March 28, with ASA hosts attending from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sinatra swings
A benefit for the students of the Centro Educativo Jaltepec will be held Sunday, March 17, 12:30 p.m. in the home of Linda Buckthorp.
The event will take place to the background of the music of Cole Porter, sung by Frank Sinatra. The all-inclusive afternoon begins with Timothy G. Ruff Welch playing a medley of cocktail music while Jaltepec alumni serve hors d’oeuvres they have prepared. Bottomless glasses of wine and a three-course luncheon follow, finishing with a presentation by Bill Dingwall. Tickets are 1,200 pesos.
Information: (376)766-1631 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Painting with oils
Efren Gonzalez offers the last of his oil painting workshops of the season March 19-22. Paint one canvas each day. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. All materials are included in the 400 dollar fee. Information: 331-703-3942.
Cantantes del Lago
Los Cantantes del Lago present a spring concert entitled “Roots: Folk Music of North America,” Tuesday, March 26, 7 p.m. and Wednesday, March 27, 4 p.m. at the Auditorio de la Ribera. Guest artists are Mariachi Real Axixic. Tickets, 250 pesos are available at Diane Pearl, Mia’s Boutique, the Auditorio and at loscantantesdellago.com.
Introduction to paper making
Instructor Brad Mowers is a fiber craftsman with 30 years of experience making handmade, recycled materials artisanal paper and has been teaching the craft to children and adults for several years. This three-afternoon workshop will cover how to make paper from discarded paper scraps, banana leaves, flowers and other natural materials. The paper can be used for drawing, painting, and note cards, boxes and bookmarks. Color will be added to paper with pigments.
The course is held on Monday, March 25; Wednesday, March 27; and Friday, March 29, 2 to 5 p.m., at a private residence in Chapala. The class is limited to six people; cost is 600 pesos. Information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Mandolin and piano
In the final concert of the season for Viva La Musica, Michael Tsalka and Alon Sariel – both brilliant artists on the piano and mandolin – will perform a selection from Bach, Beethoven and Hummel at the Haus of Musik, Thursday, March 28.
Harpsichordist and pianist Michael Tsalka has won numerous awards in Europe, the United States, Asia and Latin America. Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, he studied in Israel, Germany and Italy, and holds degrees in chamber music, harpsichord and piano performance. Mandolin and lute player Alon Sariel is also an orchestra director and well known performer of early music.
A 6:15 p.m. champagne reception will precede the 7 p.m. concert.
Tickets, 500 pesos, are available at the LCS Viva ticket area, Thursday and Friday, 10 to noon, Diane Pearl and Mia’s Boutique.
‘Chapatti’
Fred Koesling and Roseann Wilshere comprise the cast of the next Bare Stage Theatre production, “Chapatti,” a romantic, poignant and unsentimental comedy by Irish playwright Christian O´Reilly. “Chapatti” unfolds as a sweet and funny look at the lives of two lonely animal-lovers, Betty and Dan, as each quietly yearn for human companionship. Gaining love and romance, at any age, is the ultimate joy we can hope for. Directed by Rosann Balbontin, the presentation is Friday to Sunday, March 29-31. All shows are at 4 p.m. Bar and office open 3 p.m. Tickets, 100 pesos, are available at the box office on the day of the show. Reservations: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The theater is at Carretera 261 on the mountain side in Riberas del Pillar.