Music not only enlivens all of Mexico’s many traditional festivities and other special occasions, but also fills the hearts of its people in daily life.
It’s no surprise that in the Lake Chapala area, inhabited by hundreds of professional and amateur musicians, the air was filled with lively tunes from dawn to late hours on November 22, the feast day of Saint Cecilia, Roman martyr and religious patroness of music and musicians. The date was observed this year with itinerant street music and special events in Ajijic, San Antonio Tlaycapan, San Juan Cosalá and other localities.
Dozens of local musicians rose early in Chapala to attend Mass at the San Francisco parish in tribute to Santa Cecilia, afterwards gathering outside the temple to perform a selection of popular compositions before heading off for a musical procession along the waterfront Malecón. They carried the statue of the saint that resides in a small shrine located at the east end of Paseo Ramón Corona.
The evening was capped off with an acoustical band concert at the central plaza held to honor Salvador de Luna Castellanos (Chavo Luna), founder of La Banda de Música de Chapala, a group that has spawned professional careers for scores of young musicians over nearly three decades. Luna developed a passion for music from age eight when he learned to play trumpet with the hometown Banda Niños Héroes. He went on to play the instrument with several of Guadalajara’s top orchestras during the 1970s, before finally dedicating his time and teaching talents to the Banda de Chapala he formed in 1983.