May 20-23: Michael Christie and New West Symphony present A Tour of Mexico featuring Jiji Kim, Maria Casale, and the Mariachi Divas

New West Symphony Presents A Tour of Mexico
Michael Christie, Artistic & Music Director
With Guitarist Jiji Kim, Harpist Maria Casale, and the Mariachi Divas

Sunday, May 23, 2021 at 3pm PST – Symphony Concert
With Additional Cultural Festival Events May 20, 21, and 22

Season and Concert Passports Available Here:
www.newwestsymphony.org/2020-21-virtual-season/tour-of-mexico

“[New West Symphony is] embracing the mission of refreshing the modern concert experience for a new generation” – Los Angeles Times 

Los Angeles, CA – New West Symphony (NWS), with Grammy-winning conductor Michael Christie as Artistic and Music Director, continues its 2020-21 groundbreaking and reimagined season of “Global Sounds, Local Cultures” with A Tour of Mexico. This festival, running May 20-23, culminates with a feature symphony concert presentation, spotlighting virtuosic guitarist Jiji Kim and harpist Maria Casale, with works by Arturo Marquez, Fernando Arroyo Lascurain, Silvestre Revueltas, Manuel Ponce, Gabriela Ortiz, Jose Enrique Gonzalez-Medina and the traditional Mexican folk song, El Son de la Negra. A Tour of Mexico is presented in partnership with the Museum of Ventura County. 

Along with the symphony concert, Season and Concert Passport holders can enjoy access to companion cultural festival programs for further immersion into the music, the artistry, and the culture that inspired the concert, curated by Michael Christie. These events will take place on Thursday, May 20 at 6pm PT – a Pre-Concert Talk from UCLA Senior Lecturer, David Ravetch, who explores the music presented in the A Tour of Mexico concert in an informative, audience-friendly format; Friday, May 21 at 7pm PT – Culture Insights, an exploration of Southern California’s heritage, including demonstrations of traditional instruments and performance, and discussions about history, arts and music; and Saturday, May 22 at 7pm PT – Meet the Artists, a longstanding New West Symphony tradition which brings audiences closer to the guest artists and offers an opportunity to learn about artistic and creative process.

Of this festival’s programming, Michael Christie says, “Joy is the word that performers and composers alike cite when they speak of the spirit of Mexico’s colorful musical tapestry. The music we are performing for our Tour of Mexico highlights the profound influences of indigenous, European and pan-American musical traditions on Mexico’s past, present and future musical creations. Viewers will come away from New West presentations with an appreciation for the tremendous cultural legacy of the region that was and is Mexico. I am enchanted and enriched by the nuances of this Tour of Mexico as well as our other ‘Global Sounds, Local Cultures’ presentations. 

NWS CEO Natalia Staneva adds, “The largest named ancestry in California is Mexican, and California is home to the largest population of Mexican Americans in the country. We are proud to celebrate this beautifully rich and diverse culture and bring to our audience the talents of incredible musicians who will make this wonderful music come to life.  Our thanks go not only to the musicians but to the Museum of Ventura County for their partnership in making this festival possible.”

Christie will be available to answer questions in the live chat during each program. In addition to each initial live-streamed event, all programs (except the pre-concert talk) will be available on-demand to passport holders shortly after the initial broadcast ends.

Program Information: A Tour of Mexico – Symphony Concert and Cultural Festival

Sunday, May 23, 2021 at 3pm PT – A Tour of Mexico – Symphony Concert
Michael Christie, conductor

Guest Artists:
Jiji Kim, guitar
Maria Casale, harp
Mariachi Divas 

Arturo Marquez: Máscaras, Concerto for Harp and Orchestra

Fernando Arroyo García Lascurain: Pok-Ta-Pok: El Juego De Los Dioses

Silvestre Revueltas: Ocho por Radio

Gabriela Ortiz: Exilios

Manuel Ponce: Concierto del Sur for Guitar and Orchestra

José Enrique González-Medina: Las primas del General Calles

Traditional: El Son de la Negra

Additional Cultural Programs Included with a Concert Passport:

Pre-Concert Talk with David Ravetch
Presented Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 6pm PT (not available on demand)

The New West Symphony’s pre-concert talk features UCLA Senior Lecturer, David Ravetch, who explores the music presented in the A Tour of Mexico concert in an informative, audience-friendly format.

Culture Insights
Premieres Friday, May 21, 2021 at 7pm PT

Culture Insights is an exploration of Southern California’s heritage, including demonstrations of traditional instruments and performance, and discussions about history, arts and music. Appearances for this edition include Zapotec master weaver Porfirio Gutiérrez; Rocio Marron, Son Jarocho and Mariachi violinist; community leader, Carmen Ramirez; musician and educator, Jorge Andres Herrera; an Aztec Dance performance by Veronica X. Valadez and leaders from the Museum of Ventura County. 

Meet the Artists
Premieres Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 7pm PT

Meet the Artists is a longstanding New West Symphony tradition which brings us closer to the guest artists and gives our audience an opportunity to learn about artistic and creative process. Enjoy a combination of biography, performance and insight into an artist’s process and talent, such as soloist guitarist Jiji Kim, composers Fernando Arroyo García Lascurain, José Enrique González-Medina and Gabriela Ortiz.

A Tour of Mexico is the sixth in a series of festivals being held October 2020 through June 2021, designed to spotlight the vivid cultural influences that have shaped classical music and Southern California itself. Each festival tradition has strong connections to symphonic music of the past and present. The season has so far included A Tour of Japan (October 2020) featuring violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, NWS concertmaster Alyssa Park, and Japanese drum ensemble Makoto Taiko; A Tour of India (November 2020) where works of Reena Esmail, Debussy, Elgar, Turina, Cooke and Philip Glass shared the spotlight with performances of Hindustani and Carnatic music; Holocaust Remembrance (January 2021), to commemorate and honor six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism voices, featuring touching historical context and music of the early 20th century and today exploring Jewish themes; A Tour of China (February 2021), a celebration of Chinese New Year and the Spring Lantern Festival, featuring the world’s premier Pipa virtuoso and leading ambassador of Chinese music, Wu Man; multi-Grammy-winning soprano Sasha Cooke; and a master of erhu, Hong Wang; and A Tour of Iran (April 2021), exploring centuries old traditions of Iranian poetic and musical cultural influences on the western world, featuring award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and Iranian instrumentalists Pejman Hadadi (tombak and daf) and Masoud Rezaei (setar). All six festivals are now available for on-demand viewing to passport holders at www.newwestsymphony.org/2020-21-virtual-season.

New West Symphony Upcoming Festivals
Program details will be released four weeks prior to the streaming dates. 

American Melting Pot
Summer 2021 – dates TBD

A Tour of South Korea
Summer 2021 – dates TBD 

Community partners and advisors who have collaborated with New West Symphony on the development on the 2020-21 season include Ronald Reagan Presidential Library; Hirokazu Kosaka, Japanese American Cultural Community Center; Composer Reena Esmail; and Mark Kligman and Supeena Adler from UCLA’s Department of Ethnomusicology. Season sponsors are Home Helpers Home Care, Karen and Dr. Paul Finkel, Susan Burgos, and Fern & Dr. Arnold Heyman. New West Symphony has received grants to support this season from the Colburn Foundation, California Arts Council, Edison Foundation, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, Neiman Marcus Foundation, TOArts, City of Thousand Oaks, Westlake Women’s Club, Meadowlark Service League, City of Agoura Hills, Bank of America Foundation, and others.

About New West Symphony: Now in its 26th season, the New West Symphony draws its players from the rich talent pool of accomplished Los Angeles-area musicians. Its mission is to inspire passion for symphonic music through live performances and education initiatives that engage and enrich its diverse audiences. For more information, visit www.newwestsymphony.org or connect on Facebook and Instagram.

About Michael Christie: Grammy award-winning conductor Michael Christie is a thoughtfully innovative conductor, equally at home in the symphonic and opera worlds, who is focused on making the audience experience at his performances entertaining, enlightening, and enriching. The New York Times reports, “Michael Christie is a director open to adventure and challenge,” and the Cincinnati Enquirer declares, “If Michael Christie represents the future of music in this country, the future looks promising indeed.” 

Christie won a 2019 Grammy Award (Best Opera Recording) for the world premiere recording of Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with The Santa Fe Opera (PENTATONE). In 2017, he led the world premiere performances at The Santa Fe Opera, “with suave assurance” (San Francisco Chronicle), with “precision and pizzazz” (Santa Fe New Mexican), and “preside[d] over an expertly executed performance” (The Financial Times). He was featured in Opera News in August 2012 as one of 25 people believed to “break out and become major forces in the field in the coming decade.” At Minnesota Opera, Christie led 24 productions over eight years, six seasons as its first-ever Music Director (2012-2018). Other recent highlights include leading performances with Washington National Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre. Deeply committed to bringing new works to life, Michael Christie has championed commissions by leading and emerging composers alike, including Mark Adamo, Mason Bates, Unsuk Chin, Michael Daugherty, Osvaldo Golijov, Mark Grey, Daron Hagen, Jennifer Higdon, Matthew Hindson, Huang Ruo, Marjan Mozetich, Stephen Paulus, Kevin Puts, and more. 

Michael Christie has been a strong proponent of multicultural programming throughout his career. He created a World Music Festival at the Phoenix Symphony and a World Music Series at the Colorado Music Festival. As Chief Conductor of the Queensland Orchestra in Australia, he toured Japan and recorded his debut album with didgeridoo player William Barton. With the Phoenix Symphony, he premiered and recorded Mark Grey’s Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio, libretto by Navajo poet Laura Tohe. While Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, he led performances of Tan Dun’s The Gate and created the orchestra’s Nuevo Latino Festival.

Christie’s conducting career, spanning more than 20 years, has included serving as Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony (2005-2013) and Brooklyn Philharmonic (2005-2010), and as Chief Conductor of the Queensland Orchestra (2001-2004) in Australia, as well as guest appearances leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the Symphonies of Dallas, St. Louis, Atlanta, Houston, Minnesota, Oregon, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Santa Rosa. Christie’s many European engagements have included leading the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Orchestre National de Lille, Swedish and Netherlands Radio Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, NDR Hannover Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic. In addition, Christie enjoys a strong profile in Australia, where he has conducted the Sydney Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, Opera Queensland, and the Western Australian Symphony in Perth.

Michael Christie first came to international attention in 1995 when he was awarded a special prize for “Outstanding Potential” at the First International Sibelius Conductors’ Competition in Helsinki. Following the competition, he was invited to become an apprentice conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where he subsequently worked with Daniel Barenboim as well as at the Berlin State Opera during the 1996-1997 season. For more information, visit www.michaelchristieonline.com.