The OFJ in Ciudad Guzman
From August 15th through the 245h, Ciudad Guzman, Jalisco celebrates the 480th anniversary of its founding by the Spaniards as the city "Zapotlan el Grande" with its fourteenth municipal cultural festival (Festival Cultural de la Ciudad).
This Festival features a stellar presentation by the Orquesta Filarmonica de Jalisco, programmed for Friday evening, the 23rd of August, at 8:00 PM, inside the city's Cathedral. This special concert will be a tribute by the OFJ to three important composers from Ciudad Guzman and will include the magnificent songs of Ciudad Guzman native Consuelo Velazquez.
The Filarmonica de Jalisco will open the program with the Obertura Mexicana No. 2 written by Jalisco-born composer Blas Galindo. Next, the orchestra will celebrate the 140th birthday of Ciudad Guzman native Jose Rolon, composer, founder, and first director of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Guadalajara, precursor of the OFJ. The featured work is Rolon's symphonic poem El Festin de los Enanos (The Dwarves' Banquet).
The gala evening also includes a world premiere: the cantata Zapotlan by Maestro Antonio Navarro, another illustrious native of this fair city.
The State Choir (Coro del Estado) joins forces with the OFJ in the cantata and in the famous choruses "Va Pensiero" from the opera Nabucco, the "Anvil Chorus" from the opera Il Trovatore, and the "Grand March" from Aida, all works of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, commemorating the 200th anniversary of his birth.
For the grand finale, the public will have the opportunity to enjoya potpourri some of Consuelo Velazquez' most beautiful songs, including her world-famous "Bésame Mucho."