News Roundup, May 20, 2021
Like so many other events, the 39th annual Tejano-Conjunto Festival is going virtual this year while preserving the talent power that the fest has been known for through most of its history. The main music event will be live-streamed Saturday, May 22, form 7 p.m. to midnight, form the Guadalupe Theater. The lineup includes big-name performers like Flaco Jimenez, Los Cucuys de Rodney Rodrigues, Los 2 G’s, Los Morales Boys, Los Monarcas de Peter y Mario Diaz, Eva Ybarra, Boni Mauricio y los Maximos with special guest Linda Escobar, and Tony Tigre Saenz y La Rosa de Oro.
In addition, a pre-recorded segment featuring Texmaniacs and Santiago Jimenez, will also be part of the streaming event.
Originally initiated by musician and writer, Juan Tejeda, who was the Xicano Music Program director at the Guadalupe Center for 18 years, the festival was the first such fest in the country, and is now the longest-running conjunto showcase in the U.S. Before the pandemic, it was known to draw more than 10,000 fans and performers from across America, Mexico and even Europe and Asia, for several days of music and dancing.
Though reduced in format, the 2021 fest will also include a livestream of “Conjunto Blues”, a stage-play written and performed by Nicolas R. Valdez. It will stream Friday, May 21 at 7 p.m. The performance will be followed by a Zoom Q&A session during which viewers will be able to talk with Valdez about conjunto music and its impact on the Chicano culture. (For tickets: https://guadalupeculturalart.org/tejano-conjunto-festival/; $15; for information call 210-271-3151 or go to conjunto@guadalupeculturalarts.org)
On the classical music front there’s always something interesting going on. Coming up this Sunday, May 23, Camerata San Antonio will return to in-person performances with its season finale, Strum. The concert, which will feature the Camerata quartet plus pianist Viktor Valkov, will take place at 3 p.m. at the Laurel Heights United Methodist Church, with safety protocols in place, including social distancing. On the program: “Strum” by living American composer Jessie Montgomery, and Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s Piano Quartet in A Major, Op 81. The concert will be recorded and streamed free on Camerata San Antonio’s YouTube channel May 30. (3 p.m. May 23; 227 W. Woodlawn Ave., 78212; reservations open the public on May 20 via www.cameratasa.org/tickets .)
The YOSA Philharmonic will also perform on Sunday, with guest artist Anthony McGill, the principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic, who happens to be the first African-American principal player at the famed NYC orchestra. (May 23, 7 p.m. Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, 210-223-8624; tickets@tobincenter.org )
If you are a good singer who is interested in sacred music, Musica Sacra San Antonio, a sacred music choir, is holding auditions for singers through May. For a live Zoom appointment, contact the music director, Dr. Owen Duggan at owenduff@gmail.com or call 210-214-5589.
The Children’s Ballet of San Antonio is also returning to live, in-person performances with “Swan Lake,” probably the most famous ballet of the classical repertoire. Though these dancers are young- ranging in age from 3-21- they tend to be well prepared by their teachers and the school’s artistic director Vanessa Bessler. The production will feature “dazzling costumes” custom made in Moscow; “integrated multimedia scenery”; and a cast of 140 dancers, including talented special-needs artists.
Bessler won the Youth America Grand Prix Outstanding Teacher Award six times, and many of her dancers have gone on to study with the most prestigious dance academies in the world and have excelled at international ballet competitions.
Critically acclaimed Hungarian-born, adult dancer, Mate Szentes, will appear in the role of Prince Siegfried, partnering different young ballerinas portraying the White and Black Swan in three performances. We had the opportunity to see CBSA’s production of “Swan Lake” a couple of years ago and were impressed by the entire ensemble. (Friday, May 21 at 7 p.m.; Sat., May 22 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Tobin Center for the Performing Arts; tickets: ticket@tobincenter.org )
And speaking of ballet, Ballet San Antonio, our only professional ballet company, has just announced its 2021-22 season. See the article “Good News from Ballet San Antonio”, published May 18 on this site.
Theaters are also coming back to stage life. The latest to announce its return to the scene is the Overtime Theater that has been missing in action for well over a year. More about their new show next week.
Live music venues have been alive with music for quite a while. This weekend, you may be interested to see Dizzy Reed of GUNS N’ ROSES-fame, Friday, and/or Two Tons of Steel Saturday, both at Sam’s Burger Joint. Reed was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 (Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson, 78215; limited seating; expect to stand during the performances; https://samsburgerjoint.com, 210-223-2830)
If you would rather enjoy music while sipping a cocktail sitting down comfortably, try the LUNA nightclub. The lineup this weekend: Devan Jones & the Uptown Stomp (vintage blues), Friday; Michael Alanis Band (R&B/Variety), Saturday; doors open at 8 p.m., music starts at 9 p.m. (LUNA, 6740 San Pedro Ave., 78216; no reservations; https://www.lunalive.com.)
To see veterans of pop and country music, The Bellamy Brothers, head to Floore’s Country Store in Helotes this Saturday, May 22. The duo has been at it since the 1970s, garnering a lot of attention from European audiences, especially in Switzerland and Norway. They were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2018. On Friday, Floore’s will present the popular band Asleep at the Wheel. (14492 Old Bandera Rd. Helotes; 210-695-8827; info@liveatfloores.com )
Even if you think you know the history of your country, there are always new things to learn. And there’s an opportunity for such a “lesson” Sunday night. The San Antonio African-American Community Archive and Museum, is screening “Just a Ferry Ride to Freedom”, Sunday night at the Arneson River Theater. It’s a documentary produced by the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, that tells the story of slaves who ran away from their masters before the Civil War and chose to head south to Mexico instead of going north. Bring a chair or a blanket. There will be food trucks nearby, should you need refreshments. (May 23 at 7:30 p.m.; Arneson River Theater, 418 Villita, 78205)
For a very different movie, you can bring chairs and blankets to the West Courtyard of the San Antonio Museum of Art, Friday, May 21, to see “Back to the Future”, while enjoying the outdoors. It starts at 8 p.m. and it’s free, but go early to get a spot. Social distancing is enforced.
The Texas Commission on the Arts has announced the Texas State Legislature’s 2021 and 2022 “state artists”, including two San Antonians – visual artist Jennifer Ling Datchuk, and conjunto accordionist sans pareil, Eva Ybarra, whom you can see in action if you watch the Tejano-Conjunto livestream this Saturday (see above).
The city’s Department of Arts and Culture should be congratulated and thanked for its ongoing efforts to help artists of all disciplines. Did you know that the department has an online professional directory for artists? Artists can post their professional profiles on the site where others in the community may discover them and maybe hire them for events or projects- https://events.getcreativesantonio.com/artist