Un Noche de Gala con Cesar Tafoya

All Photos by Arte Visual / www.emartevisual.com

 

2013 marks the ten year anniversary of the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival, and in its continuing efforts to do more for Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, the festival has recently embarked on an ambitious plan to provide year-round programming.

Zi-Guitar Fest AC, the non-profit association behind the guitar festival, will be offering an additional four to six cultural programs or events each year, in addition to their popular week-long music festival each March.  Programs will include concerts, Gala dinners, exhibitions, seminars, children´s workshop, and all manner of other offerings, with the goal to promote tourism to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo through art, music and culture.

The first effort of their 2012-2013 calendar were two concerts during Mexican Independence weekend, September 14 and 15, featuring the incredible young Mexican countertenor, Cesar Tafoya.  Tafoya first came to the attention of the ZIGF during a Mexico promotion tour to Italy in June 2012.  ZIGF committee member and chef, Gabriela Pasquel, was invited to travel to Venice and Veneto, Italy, as part of a Mexico promotion delegation. The trip was sponsored by Tierra Viva, a non-profit association from the region of San Juan de los Lagos in the state of Jalisco, Confraternita del Bavarolo, an Italian wine and culinary association, and the State of Guerrero, with the mission to foster cultural exchange between Italy and Mexico.  On the trip Pasquel was to cook typical Mexican dishes for the thousands of Mexico Week en Veneto attendees, and Cesar Tafoya was to sing with the choir and mariachi group that was brought from Tec de Monterrey.  The trip was a huge success and over two weeks promoted Mexico in front of over 40,000 people across the region.  Cesar Tafoya is just 21 years old and one of only eight Contratenor Colorattos in the world, he has received no formal training.  His solos created a sensation in Italy and while he was there he applied and was accepted to, the Conservatorio de Musica di Rovigo, where he will begin his first formal vocal studies in 2013.  One of the goals of the ZIGF is to promote Mexican music and Pasquel thought Tafoya a perfect choice to bring to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, part of the proceeds of the event will go towards helping Tafoya with his studies.

 

Two concerts were scheduled over the weekend of September 14, 15. A Gala fundraising concert in Ixtapa and a free to the public concert at city hall during the city´s Independence day celebration.   The Gala Dinner and fundraising Concert was held at Hotel Loma del Mar in Ixtapa, Una Noche de Gala con Cesar Tafoya.  The singer was accompanied on guitar by Pablo Aruajo, and el mariachi Los Torcasos, with a surprise special guest, Isahrai Azaria, sitting in for a few songs.  A sold-out crowd of 150 persons enjoyed a three course meal in a beautiful setting and were wowed by the talented young Tafoya.  The evening included lyric music as well as traditional Mexican ballads and was an exciting and emotionally charged evening, with the enthusiastic audience on its feet cheering, singing, and applauding heartily most of the evening.  The end of the night brought several encores and quite a few misty eyes.  The next night, Mexican Independence Day, two thousand or more Ixtapa-Zihuatanejans were delighted by Tafoya, accompanied by the talented Mariachi Alborada from Taxco, when they performed at the Zihuatanejo Ayuntamiento (City hall) immediately before El Grito (the cry of independence) and the city fireworks display.  Rousing renditions and sing-a-longs of traditional Mexican music amid many cries for encore, ended the evening on a high note.  The concerts were a tremendous success for the ZIGF´s first cultural event of their new year-round calendar, and a great musical introduction to a tremendous Mexican talent. We hope to see Cesar Tafoya in Zihuatanejo again.

 

A wide variety of cultural programming is being considered for the upcoming year, such as a children´s guitar workshop for over one hundred children, a Brazil week celebration, a children´s choir performance, as well as workshops for musicians, music teachers, and of course more gala and fund raising events.  Sponsors are now more than ever being sought and much help is needed to keep up the good work.

 

The Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival is a non-profit, volunteer run, festival that brings world-class music to beautiful Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo for a week of live music in paradise, each year in March.  The festival is now accepting submission for 2013, and is seeking guitarists in any genre.  For more information about the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival, or its submission requirements, visit their website at www.zihuafest.info or follow them on their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/zguitarfest