Pro Musica announces the 2021-2022 season!

Published August 26, 2021

View the 2021-2022 Schedule

Following the success of our initial summer season, I am delighted to announce that our usual full season of concerts/opera/events will run from October, 2021, thru March, 2022.  Our artists are chomping at the bit to return to San Miguel to play live music again and to experience the unique warmth that you, our wonderful audiences, create for them.  We have a fantastic array of musicians and music to suit all tastes and you will hear an enormous range of music during the season.

Below is a brief description of all our events for the coming season and the color calendar below has full information.  With limited seating inside St. Pauls and other venues due to Covid rules many of these concerts are going to sell out and I suggest that you reply to this email and book your tickets now for the whole season.

There will be an artists’ supper or cocktail after nearly every concert.  For the fall post concert events you will receive an invitation to each one individually two weeks before each concert.  For the high season concerts we will be sending out a booking form in December for all the post concert events in January, February and March.

17 October, Sunday, 2020 at 5 pm sees the opening concert of the season with  renowned  pianist Alexander Pashkov in a program of works by Mozart, Chopin Schumann, Brahms and Scriabin (“Played with the Kirov under Gergiev”)  

On 14 November, Sunday at 5 pm, Martin Chalifour, violin, makes his San Miguel debut.  Martin has been Concertmaster/first violin of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 25 years, currently under the magical baton of superstar  Gustavo Dudamel.

December 4, Saturday features a return of cellist Mark Kosower, who wowed you two years ago with his exquisite playing.  Principal cello of the Cleveland Orchestra, he has played as soloist with orchestras worldwide. (“a virtuoso of staggering prowess” Cleveland Plain Dealer).

All concerts below are on Fridays and Sundays at 5 pm unless otherwise stated.

January 16, Sunday sees the Mexican debut of stunning 22 year old violinist Geneva Lewis.  She has won many competitions and awards and plays the 1714 “Joachim-Ma” Stradivarius violin, courtesy of the New England Conservatory, where she is based.

Next up, January 21 & 23, features another newcomer to San Miguel, outstanding young pianist Mackenzie Melemed (25) whose international career continues to flourish on the heels of winning the Juilliard School’s 2019 Carnegie Hall Recital Prize, the 2018 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Prize and the 2018 Paris Recital competition.

January 28 & 30 brings the Pro Musica debut of the Borremeo String Quartet with Founder and 1st violinist, the wonderful Nicholas Kitchen, who gave memorable recitals for us in 2020.  The Borremeo have played over 800 concerts worldwide in their 25 years and are Quartet in Residence at the New England Conservatory of Music. (“musical fervour .. both fierce and intimate” The Boston Globe)   

February 3 & 4, Thursday and Friday, sees the San Miguel debut of the stunning all female Claremont Piano Trio, lauded by Strad Magazine as “one of America’s finest young chamber groups” .  They took Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress by storm and these concerts are not to be missed.  (“they play with passion and precision .. and power” Boston Globe).  

Claremont Piano Trio

February 9, 11 & 13 is OPERA WEEK. After the triumph of L’Elisir D’Amore two years ago, we stage another Donizetti comic opera, Don Pasquale, with three performances.  Featuring stunning soprano Annabel de la Mora, comic master Charles Oppenheim in the title role, and the return of our wonderful Leporello from Don Giovanni,Rodrigo Urrutia, this is sure to be another hit.  That week also brings our annual GALA FUNDRAISER, Tuesday 8h February, with the stars of the opera and the Pro Musica Youth Orchestra.

On February 18 & 20 we welcome back incredible pianist Ilya Yakuchev who mesmerized us in 2018 with his breathtaking virtuosity and charming personality.  His Carnegie Hall debut was stunning, and he wowed audiences playing with the St. Petersburg Symphony. Ilya flies directly from Russia to San Miguel. (“Astonishing debut [with] .. the San Francisco Symphony”San Francisco Chronicle)

Ilya Yakushev, piano

February 22-26 brings the Young Mexican Classical  Musician of the Year Competition with the best young instrumental musicians in Mexico in the 16-25 age range.  From hundreds of applicants across a wide range of  instruments  the 15 semi-finalists will compete for prizes totalling $400,000 pesos.  The semi-finals will be on Tuesday 22 February, the final with the most talented 5 musicians on Thursday 24^th and a Winners Concert with the1st and 2^nd prize winners on Saturday 26^th.

On March 4 & 6 we present the Mexican debut of the Balourdet String Quartet.  This exciting young ensemble, Professional Quartet in Residence at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music, are making musical waves wherever they go.  They won the Grand Prize at the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Competition, the top prize at the 2021 Premio Paolo Borciani in Reggio Emilia, Italy, and the Gold Medal at the 2020 Fischoff Competition.

On March 9 (Wednesday) we present our annual BENEFIT EXTRAVAGANZA to raise funds towards the $400,000 pesos scholarships to be awarded to the winners of our Young Mexican Musician Competition.  The event will feature a line up of much loved artists and special guests, including pianist William Ransom and members of the Vega Quartet, performing a full concert in a private home, preceded by a Prosecco reception in the garden, and food and drink in the house afterwards.

March 11 & 13 sees the return of beloved pianist William Ransom together with members of the Vega String Quartet, who will perform as a piano quartet. The programs will include seminal works including Beethoven’s Archduke Trio and piano quartets by Mozart, Brahms and Schumann.

March 18 & 20 brings the much anticipated return of uber-talented cellist, Amit Peled.  Amit has wowed audiences in San Miguel in recent years with his intense musicality, astounding technique and a genius for both musical and verbal expression, allied to an unquenchable ability to communicate through music and words.

Amit Peled, cello

The season ends on March 27 (Sunday) with our famous GARDEN CONCERT in a magical garden in centro, including a long interval when we serve unlimited prosecco and thousands of canapés.  This season features  the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber with one of America’s most amazing voices; opera singer Terry Barber (“performances of great vitality and verve” The Los Angeles Times).

We anticipate smaller audiences this coming season compared to pre-pandemic levels due to socially distanced seating, so there will be a considerable drop in our income.  If you, our wonderful Patron Members, continue your subscriptions at current levels or even better, upgrade, we will be able to weather this and ensure that world class classical music continues in San Miguel in the years to come.  Full details of benefits and an application form are below the calendar in this email.

I look forward to seeing you all next season.

Warm regards, Michael Pearl, President, Pro Musica

Contact us:  info@promusicasma.org   Web Site:  www.promusicasma.org