Saturday, January 13, 2pm
Miguel Malo Auditorium, Bellas Artes, Hernández Macías 75
$500

4th Annual Mexico - Canada Co-OPERA-tive concert

A benefit for Opera San Miguel Scholarship Program

By Shari Alexander

Opera San Miguel will open its season on January 13 with the 4th Annual Mexico ~ Canada Co-OPERA-tive Concert. This important cultural exchange concert is part of OSM’s alliance with Les Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques (JAL) of Montreal, a collaboration that has resulted in tremendous opportunities for Mexican singers on the world’s stages. Each year OSM Artistic Director, John Bills, travels to Montreal to choose a Canadian singer to participate in this exchange concert, and at the same time a Mexican singer is able to participate in a grand audition for over 20 opera directors from around the world, competing for prize money and performance contracts.

“This year I heard so many fine young Canadian singers that I found it hard to choose just one,” Bills recalls. “So, for the first time, I chose two!” The Canadians will be partnered with two outstanding young Mexican artists, both 1st Prize Winners of OSM’s national contest, Concurso San Miguel. These four exceptional singers will present a program of songs, arias, duets, trios and even an operatic quartet. They will be accompanied by OSM Resident Pianist and Coach, Mario Alberto Hernández. The Canadian singers will be the breathtaking coloratura soprano Andrea Nuñez and the equally exciting mezzo-soprano Emma Char. They will join thrilling Mexican tenor César Delgado, 1st Prize Winner of Concurso San Miguel 2015, and the brilliant baritone, Carlos López, 1st Prize Winner of Concurso 2017 and winner of the 2017 International Prize at JAL.

This series of exchange concerts began four years ago when Maestro Bills and Opera San Miguel were chosen as the first and only Mexican opera director and organization to join the International Jury of JAL. Through this important program, winners of Concurso San Miguel have been invited to perform in Canada, Holland, France, Russia, Byelorus and China, raising world-wide awareness of the depth of operatic talent that is being discovered and cultivated in Mexico by Opera San Miguel.

“We hope all opera lovers will turn out to experience these extraordinary young artists, and especially that members of San Miguel’s thriving Canadian ex-pat community will join us in celebrating Canadian culture in Mexico!” exclaims Bills.

Opera San Miguel, A.C. exists solely to discover and develop the careers of the most promising of Mexico's young opera singers, through grants for advanced study and professional expenses, and by providing and facilitating performances for its singers, here and around the world. Singers never pay a fee to participate in our programs. OSM is not affiliated with Pro Musica Opera or the San Miguel Institute of Bel Canto. We are a charity, sustained exclusively by contributions from individual donors and local businesses. Donations can be tax deductible in the US at sanmiguelcommunityfoundation.org, and in Canada through www.amistadcanada.org. For further information please visit www.operasanmiguel.org

Advance Sale Exclusively at La Conexion, Aldama #3 Outer Lobby 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Any Remaining Tickets at the Door.