Mexican tenor Jose Luis Duval has joined the cast for the El Paso Opera's second "Opera for All!" concert at 7:30 Sept. 11 at the Plaza Theatre.
Dubbed "Opera for All!: Amor Por Juarez," the concert will be directed by EPO's General Director David Grabarkewitz and will feature various arias and artists in a tribute to both the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the ongoing drug war in Mexico.
Duval has sung all over Mexico and South America, worked with Placido Domingo and made his New York Metropolitan Opera debut in 2005.
He joins a cast that includes New York soprano Lauren Flanigan, recent UTEP graduate Luis Orozco and conductor Carlos Garcia, music director of the Orquestra Sinfonica of the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez (not the Juarez Symphony as originally announced).
Conceived as a low-cost, mass-audience introduction to opera, tickets are $25, on sale at the box office, Ticketmaster, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.
A post-concert party will immediately follow at the Alcantar Sky Garden next door. Cast members will attend. Tickets are $75, with proceeds going to Amor Por Juarez campaign. Tickets are on sale from the opera (not Ticketmaster).
In related developments, EPO has announced some of the casting for its production of "Madama Butterfly" March 10 and 12 at the Plaza, its first full opera production in two years. It will be co-produced with Opera New Jersey, which will stage it in February there then move it here, said Grabarkewitz.
Shu-Ying Li will sing the title role. Grabarkewitz calls her "easily the best Butterfly I've seen." She was in a New York City Opera production of it that Grabarkewitz directed. The TV broadcast won an Emmy Award in 2008.
Japanese native Mika Shigematsu will sing the role of Suzuki and Nicholas Pallesen will portray Sharpless.
Ari Pelto will conduct. Set design will be by Makiko Suzuki with lighting and projections by Steele, who also worked on El Paso Opera's 2009 production of "The Magic Flute" and this year's "Porgy and Bess" concerts.
Info: epopera.org, 581.5534.
In other news:
• Fuerza Bruta, the dazzling aerial troupe from Argentina, will perform nine shows Sept. 30-Oct. 6 at the Union Depot, according to Ricardo Fernandez, the show's promoter and the guy behind the Soata Lofts on Overland Street.
It marks the first time the company has performed outside of New York or Chicago in the United States.
It will be fundraiser for Amor Por Juarez campaign, the Paso del Norte Group campaign to raise money for youth programs in Juarez (El Paso Community Foundation is the administrator of the fund).
Tickets will cost $50, Fernandez said.
Showtimes and other ticket information has not been announced.
Check 'em out at fuerzabruta.net.
• The folks at the El Paso Convention and Visitors Bureau have moved the Showtime El Paso concerts back to its traditional home, the Chavez Theatre.
The long-running group was going to move to the Plaza Theatre due to impending renovations to the Chavez.
But Bryan Crowe, CVB assistant general manager says renovations have been delayed until at least next August, possibly longer. Funding is a holdup, he said. They'll reassess the situation late this year or early next, he said.
Showtime's season starts Sept. 25 with singer and former TV star John Davidson. It's at 7:30 p.m. at the Chavez. Tickets are $25, which is cheap in this day and age, $10 for students aged 6-25. They're sold at the door.
The rest of the season: "The Great American Songbook" (Oct. 29); Duncan Tuck (Dec. 18); "Legacy of Floyd Cramer," with pianist Jason Coleman (Feb. 10); and 2003 "Nashville Star" winner Buddy Jewell (April 29).
Details: showtimeelpaso.com; 544.2022.
• The 30th annual Whole Enchilada Fiesta Sept. 24-26 in Las Cruces will feature performances by Los Lonely Boys (9:30 p.m. Sept. 25), Sunny and the Sunliner Band (4:30 p.m. Sept. 24), the Latin Breed (9:30 p.m. Sept. 24) and Chente Barrera and Taconazo (7:30 p.m. Sept. 24) at the Hadley Sports Complex in Las Cruces.
Admission is $3 at the door (free for kids), $5 for the beer garden.
Info: enchiladafiesta.com; 575.526.1938.
• Tickets go on sale Sept. 1 for the newly named NMSU Cultural Series, which was the ASNMSU Cultural Series, but the student group dropped out. It celebrates its 10th year Sept. 23 with Fuga!, the El Paso border rocker/Mexican music fusionists, in Las Cruces' Rio Grande Theatre.
Other shows include So Percussion (Oct. 21, NMSU Atkinson Recital Hall), the return of sarod player Rajeev Taranath (Nov. 4, Atkinson), jazz group the Junior Mance Quintet (Feb. 3, Rio Grande Theatre); Irish trad group Slide (March 21, Atkinson); and Mexican brass quintet Metales M5 (April 28, RGT).
All shows are at 8 p.m. Season tickets are $75.
Individual tickets are $15, $13.50 for NMSU faculty, staff and children 2-12, $10 for NMSU students, They will be available at the Pan Am Center box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.
•That Dave Schulz concert Sept. 2 at the Rock House has been canceled due to a routing problem, according to his spokeswoman.
just a correction, Fuerza Bruta has performed in Miami as well.
Posted by: Jason | August 30, 2010 at 12:53 PM
Just shows that writing by way of knowledge brings so a lot depth and relevance to types readers. Thank you for sharing.
Posted by: Creative Recreation | September 01, 2010 at 06:42 PM