UPCOMING CONCERTS & EVENTS

OFJ  CENTENNIAL•  HOMAGE TO OUR FOUNDING FATHER, JOSÉ ROLÓN - OFJ
Primera Temporada 2015 Program 2
OFJ CENTENNIAL• HOMAGE TO OUR FOUNDING FATHER, JOSÉ ROLÓN
Friday, January 23, 2015
20:30 hrs. Teatro Degollado
Sunday, January 25, 2015
12:30 hrs. Teatro Degollado
EVENT DESCRIPTION

PROGRAM 2
OFJ CENTENNIAL • HOMAGE TO OUR FOUNDING FATHER, JOSÉ ROLÓN

Iván López Reynoso Guest Conductor
Abdiel Vázquez, Piano

José ROLÓN, Zapotlán
Manuel M. PONCE, Chapultepec
Ricardo CASTRO, Piano Concerto 
Soloist: Abdiel Vázquez, piano
José ROLÓN, El Festín de los Enanos (The Feast of the Dwarves), Symphonic Poem, op.30 (1925)
José ROLÓN, Tres Danzas Indígenas (Three Native Dances)

On the 23rd and 25th of January, the OFJ will present a commemorative concert celebrating our first hundred years of symphonic tradition here in the State of Jalisco.

In the first decade of the twentieth century, composer José Rolón (1876-1945) of Zapotlán (also known as Ciudad Guzmán), Jalisco, concluded a fertile period in his musical studies under the aegis of Moritz Moszkowski in Paris, France, and returned to his native land to dedicate himself-- mind, body and spirit-- to the expansion of musical activity in Jalisco’s capital city.  The first noteworthy result of his work was the founding of the Academia Rolón. This institution, which later became the Escuela Normal de Música de Guadalajara, opened its doors in 1907-- thanks to the Maestro’s own diligence and the support of such eminent musicians as Benigno de la Torre, José Godinez and Félix Bernardelli.  In 1915, led by Maestro Rolón himself,the graduates of the Academia Rolón became the first members of a new orchestral ensemble, the Sinfónica de Guadalajara, nowadays known as the Filarmónica de Jalisco.

Young, talented Mexican conductor Iván López Reynoso has been chosen by the OFJ to preside over this week`s gala celebration, rendering homage to the life of José Rolón in three of the eminent Maestro`s most important compositions:  the symphonic poems El Festín de los Enanos (The Dwarves` Banquet, 1925), Zapotlán (1925), and Tres Danzas Indígenas (Three Native Dances, 1900-1905).  The first of these works was a product of the composer`s second period of study in France, this time with Paul Dukas.  Joining Maestro Rolón in Dukas` composition studio was his compatriot Manuel M. Ponce, who is also represented in this concert in the symphonic triptych Chapultpec (1934), and we round out the program with the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Mexican state Durango’s native son Ricardo Castro.  Castro`s Piano Concerto bears the distinction of being the first such work produced in Latin America, its premiere in Ambers, Belgium in 1904 with the composer at the piano.  Worthy of note is the fact that our program’s virtuoso soloist, Monterrey native Abdiel Vázquez, whose debut performance with the OFJ in 2014 was warmly received, interpreted this same work at the Festival Internacional Cervantino in a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

 

Friday, January 23, 2015
8:30 PM, Teatro Degollado

Sunday, January 25, 2015
12:30 PM, Teatro Degollado