Chapala Harp Festival
Musicians will converge in Chapala next week for the 22nd Encuentro de Arpas, Salterios y Más, a marathon of traditional Mexican and Latin American music scheduled for Wednesday, October 9, from 1 to 9 p.m. at the Centro Cultural Gonzalez Gallo (CCGG) in Chapala.
Performers from Colombia, the United States, and the Mexican states of Veracruz, Guerrero, Mexico, Puebla, Michoacán and Jalisco will showcase tunes played on folk harps, psalteries, and many other acoustic string instruments. Admission is free. Seating is under large tents in front of the CCGG’s back steps, but spectators may also bring portable chairs, blankets, and outdoor picnic gear. Food and drinks may be purchased on-site or brought in by guests.
The BRAVO! Theatre
How do you carry around a heart that has been broken into 19 pieces? Does getting closer actually mean moving farther apart? What does it mean to “fall” in love?
Set in a place that’s so far north, it’s almost not in the United States. It’s almost in Canada. And it’s not quite a town, because its residents never got around to getting organized. So, it almost doesn’t exist. One cold, clear winter night, as the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above Almost, Maine, eight couples find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and often hilarious ways.
“Almost, Maine” was written by John Cariani and is directed by Randy Warren.
“Sweet, poignant and witty. Nearly perfect. Almost, Maine’s charm is real. It packs wit, earns its laughs, and like love, surprises you.”—NY Daily News.
Show dates are October 11 to 13 and 18 to 20. Friday shows begin at 7:30 p.m., and weekend shows begin at 4 p.m. Tickets are 350 pesos.
Reservations can be made by email at 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.. Tickets are also available at It’s Kinda Bazar and Mia’s Boutique. The BRAVO! Theatre is at Hidalgo 441 in Riberas Del Pilar. Doors open one hour before showtime. For more information, visit www.thebravo.org.
Events
• The Lake Chapala Society Art in the Garden is on Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• A Noche Bohemia (Mexican and Latin American music) concert at the Centro para la Cultura y las Artes de la Ribera on Friday, October 11, 7 p.m. will help fund SALTO, a mentoring program that offers life skills workshops to young people at LCS. Musicians from La Burra Collective from Tijuana, Chapala guitarist Jan Zambrano, and Venezuelan saxophonist Jesus Velazquez will perform. Tickets are 120 pesos in advance and 150 pesos at the door, available at the CCAR box office and Notaria 2 in Chula Vista.
Lake Chapala Orchestra
The Lake Chapala Orchestra presents Antonin Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” at concerts at Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Riberas del Pilar, on Saturday, October 12, at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The concert opens with Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme” for cello and orchestra. Yalissa Cruz, one of Mexico’s most outstanding cellists, will be the soloist.
Tickets are 350 pesos and can be reserved by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., stating which performance and how many tickets.
Opera at LLT
Lakeside Little Theatre’s first MET Live opera screening of the season, Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), will be shown on Sunday, October 13 and Monday, October 14 at 4 p.m.
This opéra fantastique by Jacques Offenbach is based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is also the protagonist of the story. Hoffmann entertains a group of students and drinkers at a tavern, telling them of his three greatest past loves: Olympia, a mechanical doll; Antonia, whose magical singing leads to her death; and Giulietta, who steals Hoffmann’s reflection. In the end, Hoffmann reveals that all three are merely different attributes of the woman he truly loves, the Prima Donna Stella, who shows up in the tavern.
Brian Stott, an Ajijic resident and longtime opera aficionado, is eagerly awaiting the LLT opera season: “I love these performances, usually hosted by the upcoming opera’s star with enthusiastic interviews.”
Les Contes d’Hoffmann will be projected in LLT’s main auditorium with its state-of-the-art screen and sound system. The opera is in French with English subtitles. Tickets, priced at 350 pesos, are available at lakesidelittletheatre.com.