To close the year, the UNAM music department will emphasize inclusion

Inclusion, in every sense, and an emphasis on young people, especially university students, are the general lines of the work plan from September to December of the General Directorate of Music (DGM) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Inclusion will not only be in gender issues, but also in the presentation of traditional music in a concert hall, says José Julio Díaz Infante, head of the DGM.

In matters of gender, the inclusion of female conductors, soloists and composers is already a regular part of all programs, says Díaz Infante. For the third season 2024 of the UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra (Ofunam), In practice, we have managed to ensure that at least one of the leading roles in each concert is played by a woman, and on several occasions all three: conductors, soloists and composers..

The third season, whose theme is Music and Literature, includes the work of nine female composers, many of them still alive, although Díaz Infante points out that in terms of inclusion, it is also necessary to make those from other eras visible because they can no longer promote themselves. Let the public know that female composers have always existed, although some had to publish their music under pseudonyms. Their work has the same merits as that of their male contemporaries, so We have to break down barriers in this regard..

Díaz Infante emphasizes that Ofunam resumes the presentation of stage projects: “In this sense, in the context of the UNAM Culture Festival (October 5 and 6) we will have the presentation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s play, with incidental music by Mendelssohn, in an adaptation and staging by Juliana Faesler, oriented towards the aesthetics of Federico Fellini. There will be dancers, actors and a chorus on the stage, which will extend into the auditorium.

Another highlight of the third season will be the performance (November 29 and 30) for the first time in Mexico of the famous Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos, who will perform the Violin Concerto in D major, op. 77, by Brahms.

Given the need for the orchestra to leave the university space, Díaz Infante announced that Ofunam will close the next Morelia Music Festival.

The inclusion of traditional repertoire in a concert hall aims to highlight the sound diversity of the country and of Latin America. The series will feature the participation of Los Pream, pioneers of the new Ayuujk music that is developed in the Mixe municipality of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, Oaxaca. The group intertwines jazz, funk, suun, Balkan rhythms and free, with traditional Mixe music. By bringing this music to a concert hall – the Carlos Chávez and the Simón Bolívar Amphitheater – it takes on another dimension. One can hear in more detail all its complexities, colors, harmonies and ritualssays the official.

The Huastecan trio Los Descarados will also participate in the series. For Díaz Infante, There is valuable music of very different styles; so, We must erase the notion that cultured, erudite, concert music is the only music of value..

Ojuem and AMA programs

The focus on youth is manifested with the Eduardo Mata University Youth Orchestra (Ojuem), fundamental in the training of new atrillistas of many of the groups in MexicoThe third season of Ojuem, consisting of nine programs, will run from September 8 to December 15, 2024.

For its part, the Academy of Early Music (AMA) of the UNAM, aims to promote the academic and professional artistic training of young specialists in music from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The eight AMA programs will take place between September 7 and December 15 at the Carlos Chávez Hall, the Simón Bolívar Amphitheater and the Nezahualcóyotl Hall.

Music in Puma Territory is a program that seeks to strengthen the dissemination of culture within the highest house of studies and contribute to the comprehensive education of students. In order to establish a more immediate link with the university community, it calls on chamber ensembles from its three artistic groups (Ofunam, Ojuem and AMA), as well as external musicians to offer concerts and recitals in the student environment.

A recently created program, Vive el CCU, consists of taking high school students to the University Cultural Center to tour it and enjoy theater or dance. To this end, a special program of music composed for film with Ofunam is being prepared in the Nezahualcóyotl hall.

Vive el CCU complements Music in Territorio Puma, only in reverse: Instead of taking the musical demonstrations to the educational spaces of the UNAM, we are going to bring the kids to know said center.

The University Choir program is a system of 11 choirs in which communities from UNAM faculties and schools participate. In addition to performing concerts on university stages, once a year they hold a joint performance in the Nezahualcóyotl Hall.

The DGM maintains a close relationship with the Faculty of Music of the UNAM.