The complete Spanish name of this youth orchestra – Orquesta Sinfónica “Estanislao Mejía” de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, or OSEM-UNAM – explains precisely its function: it is the symphony orchestra of the music faculty of the National University of Mexico. The music faculty’s best students perform here, getting to know the world’s great symphonic repertoire as orchestra musicians and also giving the Mexican music scene their own impulses. Thus, recent years have seen productions of Mozart’s Magic Flute and Puccini’s La Bohème, performances of Beethoven’s symphonies and great choral works such as Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Orff’s Carmina Burana. These were complemented by no less important works by Mexican composers, such as Silvestre Revueltas’ La Noche de los Mayas (which was rewarded with tumultuous applause when the orchestra performed it at the opening night of Young Euro Classic in 2013) and numerous world premieres by Ibarra or by Sergio Cárdenas, who has been the orchestra’s artistic director since 2005.
Konzerthaus, Berlin
Actress and Photographer
© Renate Neder
Margarita Broich was born in Neuwied in 1960. After studying photo design for three years at the Dortmund Polytechnic, she worked as a theatre photographer at the Bochum Theater under the artistic directorship of Claus Peymann, inspiring her to study acting at the Berlin University at the Arts. Her first engagement took her to the Frankfurt Theatre in 1987, after which she appeared at the Deutsches Theater, the Schillertheater, Berliner Ensemble, Maxim-Gorki-Theater, Volksbühne Berlin and at the Salzburg Festival, among others. She has worked with renowned directors such as as Heiner Müller, George Tabori, einar Schleef and Christoph Schlingensief, who passed away in 2010. From 1991 to 2002 she was a member of the Berliner Ensemble. Apart from her theatre, film and television roles, she keeps working as a photographer. She is particularly pleased to play Chief Detective Inspector Anna Jenneke in the Frankfurt Tatort series: “This German jewel has a long tradition, and of course it is great to be a pearl in such a long chain.”
© A. Cárdenas
The Mexican conductor Sergio Cárdenas has been a professor at the National University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City since 2005, and he is also the artistic director of the Symphony Orchestra of the Music Faculty. In 2015 he was charged with establishing a chair for conducting at UNAM. Born in Ciudad Victoria in 1951, he studied choral conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey (USA) and orchestral conducting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. There, Cárdenas also conducted the music academy’s orchestra before his further career took him to many countries in Europe and Latin America, but also Egypt and Taiwan. For several years, Cárdenas has also been a successful composer, for example with the work The Flower is a Key (A Rap for Mozart), which was commissioned by the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic and has also been recorded on CD – with Sir Simon Rattle taking the role of the rapper.
© G. Pérrez
Born in Mexico City in 1987, the tenor Alan Pingarrón began his vocal studies in 2003 at the UNAM Music Faculty in his hometown. He won several competitions, for example the Francisco Araiza Competition and the opera competition “Las voces del Bicentenario” (The Voices of the Bicentennial). Pingarrón has performed with all the major orchestras and all renowned classical music festivals in Mexico. His repertoire includes the tenor parts in sacred works such as the Mozart Requiem, the Verdi Requiem and Handel’s Messiah to opera roles by Mozart, Donizetti and Puccini.
© JMP Walle
As an artist, Luis Gerardo Villegas is at home in various genres: he works as an orchestral and choral conductor, performing with various ensembles in North and Central America, but also in China. In addition, he is a stage director, for example as artistic director for several Disney productions. Last but not least, he is also active as a percussionist and – mainly in collaboration with Sergio Cárdenas – as a “symphonic rapper”.
Academic Festival Overture in C-Minor Op. 80 (1881)
“Cielo e mar”, Aria from “La Gioconda” (1876)
“Come un bel dì di Maggio”, Romance from “Andrea Chénier” (1896)
“E lucevan le stelle”, Aria from “Tosca” (1900)
Waltz “Sobre las Olas” (1888, arr. Manuel Enríquez)
“Gratia plena” (1926, arr. Sergio Cárdenas)
“Dime que sí” (1936)
Rap for Mozart “The Flower is a Key” (2005)
Symphony No. 4 “Cora” (1942, German Premiere)
7 pm: Pre-concert Lecture with Anne Kussmaul in the Werner-Otto-Saal
Free for ticket holders (admission at 6:45 pm)
PROGRAMME
Once again, a Young Euro Classic concert features unusual sounds! The Mexican student orchestra of the Music Academy of the University UNAM in Mexico City has brought a tenor from its homeland who will enchant the Berlin audience with Mexican songs. Yet he is also at home in the classical repertoire, which he will prove with three famous arias from the operas La Gioconda, Andrea Chenier and Tosca. The orchestra, which already enjoyed enormous success at Young Euro Classic in 2013, will not stand back: it introduces not only Candelario Huizar, a classical composer well-known in his native Mexico. Furthermore, it also brings The Flower is a Key (A Rap for Mozart), written by its conductor Sergio Cárdenas, back to its roots in Berlin: the “symphonic rap” was originally written for the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Concert Partner
Partner
Broadcast
This concert will be broadcast via live stream on ARTE Concert and will be available online for 30 days. A production by EuroArts Music and ZDF in cooperation with ARTE.