SC/CPDC/378-24
● Festival activities include concerts by the Fine Arts Opera Studio (EOBA), musical performances by Latir Acústico, son jarocho with the group Cacomixtle, Tradición Jarocha and Ximena Durán; a play and dramatized visits, the screening of films The fall of the house of Usher and Belzebuth; the book presentation 02.11 Day of the Dead A celebration of life and death and the workshop “Between Nichos and Calacas”
● The headquarters located at Plaza de San Fernando 17, Colonia Guerrero, belonging to the local Ministry of Culture, houses the tombs of politicians, soldiers, rulers and great personalities of the 19th century such as Vicente Guerrero, Ignacio Comonfort, Benito Juárez and Francisco Zarco, inter alia
With opera, plays and staged performances, Mexican music, workshops, dance, film screenings and book presentations, the Pantheon of San Fernando Museuman enclosure belonging to the Secretary of Culture of Mexico Citystarted the Day of the Dead Festival Time flies Funerary Art, which is performed free of charge Thursday October 31 al Sunday, November 3 on the occasion of the celebration of the faithful dead.
The festival has the collaboration of federal institutions, venues and artistic groups such as Ópera INBAL, the publishing house TRILCE, the Youth Institute of Mexico City (INJUVE), Festival Macabro, La Noche Teatro and Fierro Producciones, as well as the Trust for the Promotion and Development of Mexican Cinema in Mexico City (PROCINECDMX) and the El Rule Cultural Center, both of the capital’s Ministry of Culture.
Among the famous tombs, the festival program began this Thursday at 2 p.m. with the concert celebrating the dead of the soloists of the Fine Arts Opera Studio (EOBA) in which, dressed in black and with makeup on their faces like skulls, they performed songs of different genres accompanied by a keyboard to remember the loved ones who have passed away, with classic pieces like What will I do without Eurydice of Orpheus and Eurydice the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck; Otello’s Ave Maria of the Italian Guiseppe Verdi;king of the elves Franz Schubert; The Other Night of Mephistopheles from Arrigo Boito; Requiem by Johannes Brahms and Holy Soul of my Filia by Giacomo Puccini.
In addition, they delighted attendees with zarzuela, Mexican and jazz pieces, such as The cold rock of Calvary by José Serrano Simeon; Love is here to stay the George Gershwin; Everytime we say goodbye by Cole Porter; God never dies by Macedonio Alcalá; eternal love by Juan Gabriel; The cross of oblivion by Manuel M. Ponce and Crying in chorus with this group created by the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL) and the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA).
“Together with maestro Israel Barrios and maestro Jesús Suaste they have been watching and exploring different styles of music, in this case, the concert is more eclectic music, from Fouré, Schubert to Cole Porter and George Gershwin. This program was with the intention of celebrating our loved ones and several of the boys had a say in what they wanted to sing, some already wanted to explore another style of music and the last girl was a song for her father who has already left,” explained Louise. Phelan, jazz singer, Alexander technique teacher and initiator of the EOBA as a teacher.
The activities continued, at 4 p.m., with the Concert for the faithful departed in the Museum forum by the Veracruz group Tradición Jarocha together with the singer Ximena Durán, who played songs such as “Tilingo Lingo”, “El Colás”, “La Bamba”, “Veracruz”, “La Bruja” and “Rogaciano el huapanguero”, among others and, to close the first day, at 6 p.m., the dramatized visit At the Gates of San Fernando of La Noche Teatro and Fierro Producciones.
“The Fine Arts Opera Studio has existed since 2014, we started with our director Ramón Vargas at that time; There are 12 singers of all ranges from countertenor, soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenors, baritones and basses; This generation, none of them are from Mexico City, they are all from the State of Mexico to the entire Republic and there are also two pianists, they audition, they send videos, there is a whole process through PRAGEI, which is a head of all the artistic residential groups within from INBAL and they receive a stimulus, a monthly scholarship,” he added.
On Friday, November 1, activities resume at 12 noon, with a musical presentation by the Latir Acoustic Community Guitar Orchestra, with themes alluding to the celebration and its global contemporary repertoire; Then, at 2 p.m., the dramatized visit takes its turn again. At the Gates of San Fernando from La Noche Teatro and Fierro Producciones; the second presentation of the soloists of the Fine Arts Opera Studio at 4 p.m., and will close, at 6 p.m., with the screening of the film The Fall of the House of Usher by Roger Corman (1960) part of the Macabre International Horror Film Festival of Mexico City.
The didactic workshop Between Nichos and Calacasabout funerary art and mortuary customs of the 21st century, by Eduardo Rosas Moya and Jovanny García Galván, the activities start at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 2; the staging continues at 12 noon Storytelling in San Fernando by Daniela Rodríguez; and then two characterized visits follow, first at 2 p.m., Illustrious women by Nelly López Aquino and, at 4 p.m., again At the Gates of San Fernando of La Noche Teatro and Fierro Producciones. And to close, the presentation of the book 02.11 Day of the Dead A celebration of life and death by Deborah Holtz and Juan Carlos García, Doctor Bolavsky, at 6 p.m.
And to finalize the programming, on Sunday, November 3, they begin at 2 p.m. with the characterized visit Chronicle of the 19th century by Madame Calderón de la Barca by Daniela Rodríguez; follow the Trail to Mictlán by Fuego Escético, the son jarocho group Cacomixtle, a ballroom dance group, Reiamoie Polinesias and a dance group from the Youth Institute of Mexico City (INJUVE); and the closing will be with the projection of Belzebuth (2017) by Emilio Portes, at 6 p.m., part of the cycle Unusual and sinister of the Trust for the Promotion and Development of Mexican Cinema in Mexico City (PROCINECDMX).
All the activities of the Day of the Dead Festival Time flies Funerary Art is performed for free at the Panteón de San Fernando Museum, located at Plaza de San Fernando 17, Colonia Guerrero, Cuauhtémoc Mayor’s Office, near the Hidalgo Metro station.
The Panteón de San Fernando Museum houses the tombs of politicians, soldiers, rulers and great personalities of Mexican society of the 19th century such as Vicente Guerrero, Ignacio Comonfort, José Joaquín Herrera, Martín Carrera, Benito Juárez, Santiago Xicotécatl, Francisco Zarco, Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía, in addition to offering guided tours to publicize the historical and artistic riches of the site, as well as temporary exhibitions, conferences, children’s workshops and editorial presentations, among others.
To know all the activities of the capital’s Ministry of Culture, you can consult the Mexico City Billboard (https://cartelera.cdmx.gob.mx/) and the Secretariat’s social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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