Arts Alive San Antonio

Lots of good music coming up!

Opera San Antonio is presenting the super popular operetta, The Pirates of Penzance, “a swashbuckling tale of Frederick, a young man who’s reached the end of his pirate apprenticeship. When he falls in love with Mabel, his former shipmates throw a wrench into his plans, setting off a series of hilarious events pitting Frederick against his pirate clan.” And there’s a lot more to it than a brief description can convey.
It’s a great show for both children and adults. To learn more about it, read our article from April 2.
(April 11 and 13 at 7:30 p.m.; Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle; tickets are $30-$130 at 210-223-8624 or tickets@tobincenter.org, and www.tobi.tobincenter.org/OPERASA/online, for info call OSA at 210-673-7270 or visit its site https://www.operasa.org)

The CARITAS Series of concerts is bringing to town the internationally known all-men singing ensemble,
Chanticleer, that performs in a range of musical styles, from the sacred to jazz and contemporary classical. For more info, read our article from April 10. The group is led by artistic director Tim Keeler, and includes a range of male voices, including tenors, baritones, countertenors and bass voices. The program is inspired by a new song cycle by composer, Majel Connery, called “The Rivers Are Our Brothers.”
(April 12 at 7:30 p.m., Chapel of the Incarnate Word, 4503 Broadway, free but registration required at https://tinyurl.com/2fcfsuwd)

The AGARITA Chamber Players will be part of UTSA’s En Vivo Guest Artist Series, playing Spanish and South American music, consisting of Astor Piazzola’s tangos and groovy street rhythms of Radames Gnattali, alongside new works by Andrea Casarrubios and Laura Vega. (April 13 at 7:30 p.m., UTSA Recital Hall on the main UTSA campus. The always active and generous quartet will also play two of their Humble Hall, outdoor concerts at two local parks. For these, they will be joined by guest artists: Aimee Lopez on violin, and Jessica Petrasek on flute. (Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m. at Roosevelt Park, 331 Roosevelt Ave.; and at 4 p.m. at Beautify San Antonio Park, 801-899 S. Main St.) And there will be more free music-making throughout April. Follow ARTS ALIVE SAN ANTONIO news for the upcoming developments.

And more music! The Alamo City Arts – Heart of Texas Concert Band’s next concert will take place in a few days, and the composer of the music presented – Rossano Galante – will be there with the performers. Galante has made a name for himself as composer and orchestrator for film and TV.
The upcoming concert is a Composer Showcase 2024 for the Texas Concert Band. Pieces that will be performed include the following compositions: “The Falls,” “A Childhood Remembered,” “They Solemnly Served,” “Existence Infinite,” and others. (April 14 at 3 p.m.; Roosevelt High School Auditorium, 5110 Walzem Rd., 78218; suggested donation $10; no tickets necessary.)

Music from St. Mark’s will present The Tallis Scholars who will play works by Robert White, David Lang, Nico Muhly, Eric Whitacre, Robert Parson and William Byrd. (April 13 at 7 p.m., St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 315 E. Pecan St., 78205; for info call 210-226-2426; or email stmarks@stmarks-sa.org. for more about the Tallis Scholars, go to www.thetallisscholars.co.uk/concerts

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center’s annual Noche de Romance is back. Led by Guadalupe traditional music program director, Gino Rivera, Mariachi Azteca de America, will perform an array of traditional Mexican love songs – boleros, balads and rancheras, written by musical luminaries like Agustin Lara, Juan Gabriel and Jose Alfredo Jimenez. This year, the event will also feature special guests: Mateo Lopez, who was recently featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show; Rhonda Garcia, a Texas favorite and educator in the SAISD, and Jonathan Palomar who toured with Luis Miguel, and is now the master vocal instructor with the Guadalupe Center. Noche de Romance is presented by the City’s Department of Arts and Culture, Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for Arts Mellon Foundation. (April 12 at 8 p.m.; outdoors at the Plaza Guadalupe, 1327 Guadalupe St., 78207 for tickets ($20-$50) call 210-271-3151 or visit www.guadalupeculturalarts.org)

A special concert will be performed at the Alvarez Theater at Texas Public Radio. Singer/songwriter Lisa Morales will bring her band and special guests to present a program dubbed “Daughter of the Sun,” inspired by her album of the same title. She grew up in a musical family in Tucson, learning to perform traditional Mexican music, while developing a broad-ranging musical taste. (April 13 at 7 p.m., Alvarez Theater & Studio, 321 W. Commerce, 78205; 210-614-8977; $10-$25; http://tpr.org)

At the Aztec Theater, you can catch the English rock band named Asking Alexandria which is on a North American tour. (April 12 at 6 p.m.; $59-$86 at www.livenation.com)

Let’s look at literary news!

The Latino Bookstore hosts the Texas Author Series featuring Guadalupe Garcia McCall and Matthew Tavares. Tavares will read poems from his new collection, “In Search of Venusian Oceans” while McCall will read from her new book “Hearts of Fire and Snow.” (April 12 at 6 p.m., 1300 Guadalupe St., 78207; books will be available for purchase and authors will be signing them.)

The 12^th Annual San Antonio Book Festival is here. Presented by the City of San Antonio and the Central Library, it celebrates national and local authors. Author presentations, panel discussions and book signings and sales, are part of the event. In addition, family activities include children’s theater shows, a technology area, art stations, and food trucks. (April 13 – all day; Central Library, 600 Soledad, 78205; free.)

“The Edge of the Sea is a Strange and Beautiful Place”: Hybrid Poetry & Prose Experiments with Aimee Nezhukumatathil. In this session participants will generate new work “that sings and celebrates the various big and small delights on this earth.” Several craft practices will also be explored. (April 13, 10a.m. to 1 p.m., at Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St., 78205; 210-734-9673; info@geminiink.org)

The San Antonio Art League and Museum has announced the opening of its 94^th Juried Artists Exhibition. More than 500 submissions were received from across Texas. Juried by Heather Lunsford, director and curator of the Nona Jean Hulsey Gallery at Oklahoma City University, the exhibit features 61 works. Fourteen awards, totaling $13,000 will be presented to the selected artists at the public opening this weekend. The prestigious Onderdonk Purchase Prize has been the exhibition’s major award for most of its history. The chosen piece is then purchased by the San Antonio Art League for its permanent collection. (Public opening will take place this Sunday, April 14, 3-5 p.m. at the museum, 130 King William, 78204; SAALM is normally open Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.)

The just opened Culture Commons exhibit “provides local perspectives on sustainability.” Through 28 artworks by 14 San Antonio artists, it is hoped the exhibition will prompt conversations around our environment and provoke calls to action in support of the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. Lots of good artists are represented in the show. Several artists created their pieces on reused fabric materials, discarded plastic and organic materials. (On view April 11-January 17, 2025, at 115 Plaza de Armas, 78205; free admission.)

New exhibits are also opening at the Russel Hill Rogers Galleries on the UTSA Southwest Campus and at Blanco’s Echo Gallery. The latter is a showcase for painter and printmaker, Denise Canat, opening April 20. The former is “Uprooting: Paths to Belonging” by artist Angeles Salinas that expresses “the permanent dialog occurring in the psyche of a Mexican expatriate.” And all expatriates, we would add.
(open every day through April 27; 300 Augusta, 78205, free; 210-458-4352)

Not much happening on theater stages, but San Antonio College will present “Cabaret” this weekend.  (McCreless Theater in McCreless Hall; tickets are $5-$15; April 12-21; www.Alamo.edu/sac/cabaret

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