'The Creatures of Prometheus' will be the amazing program that the professional group will present at the end of the semester, which will be directed by the energetic and incomparable Nicolas Rauss.

The month of July has been marked by one of the most anticipated astronomical events seen by residents, scientists and tourists. After the total eclipse of the sun visualized in its 100% in the Star Region, the seventh month of the year is preparing to embody a new spectacle for the senses; This is a captivating concert that will revive the feelings of 'Tragedy', through an iconic piece of music written in 1801 by the German genius Ludwig Van Beethoven.

'The Creatures of Prometheus', Op.43, as the masterpiece is titled, was premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna in that same year and refers to a ballet that Beethoven performed at the request of the Italian choreographer, Salvatore Viganò. In this work, the German composer makes his own the myth of the Titan Prometheus, who, after deceiving the God Zeus, is punished, being chained to the top of a mountain by Hephaestus, God of Fire. After being freed by Heracles, Prometheus sneaks into Olympus, stealing the flame from the Sun God's chariot, returning it to mortals. Broadly speaking, this myth is interpreted as the intellectual enlightenment of human beings. Fire represents the wisdom given to mortals after the darkness caused by the evils of Pandora. Prometheus' heroic act represents the revolution and the salvation of the people.

The score consists of an overture, followed by 16 tables, independent of each other. Of the complete work, only the overture has survived in concert programs and its text, which has now disappeared, has meant constant reinterpretation: “it is very varied music that changes character very quickly. Just as the muses try to sensitize the characters created by Prometheus, through this show we hope to move the senses of the attendees who accompany us on those days," invites the Swiss director, Nicolás Rauss, adding that this piece is "at the height of the Second Symphony, of the First, of the end of the Eroica. It is an absolutely enjoyable work, it has good humor: at times it is funny, pleasant and at times dramatic. It has a very wide range, there are all kinds of atmospheres, there are expressive adages, slow movements, typical even of the most mature Beethoven,” he elaborates.

In the particular case of this piece, the concert includes projections that will contextualize the audience in each of the movements of the work: “What we are going to do is play almost the entire ballet, added to a projection so that the audience can see everything that happens because the music is very descriptive; then, as the music progresses, the audience will find out about the work. It's like going to a kind of musical cinema," reflects the maestro, realizing that 'The Creature of Prometheus' is a work that is not widely known and is about a ballet that Beethoven wrote at the time of his first and second symphonies: “It deals, a little, with the creation of the human being and one realizes that it has a parallel with the creation that was born shortly after with the Bible,” explains the resident director of the Classical Orchestra of the University of Santiago de Chile (Usach).

The fifth trip through emotions will once again reach the communes of Coquimbo and La Serena. The first appointment will take place in the Performing Arts Room of the Palace Cultural Center on Thursday, July 11; while on Friday the 12th it is the turn of La Serena, where the musicians will travel to the Aula Magna of the Ignacio Domeyko Campus of the ULS to repeat this captivating program inspired by feelings of tragedy. Both concerts will be at 20:00 p.m., with no membership fee and no withdrawal of invitations, up to the capacity of the venues.

It should be noted that this season is carried out thanks to the support and financing of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, which since 2016 has been attached to the National Budget Glosa; in addition to the important institutional support provided by the University of La Serena, through the Directorate of Linkage with the Environment and Extension (DIVEULS); the Municipality of La Serena, through its Department of Culture; and the Municipality of Coquimbo in conjunction with its Department of Culture.

Written by Camila Pérez, University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra

The official seasonal program was conducted by the acclaimed conductor who is triumphing in Europe, Helmuth Reichel, and the impeccable presentation of the flute soloist, Milén Godoy.

With works by Mozart, Dvořák, Handel and a piece by Chilean composer Miguel Farías, written exclusively for the Universidad de La Serena Symphony Orchestra, the professional ensemble gave life to its fourth Concert of the 2019 Season. A captivating journey through the emotions of ' Enthusiasm and Fun' which was led by one of the most acclaimed Chilean directors who triumphs in Europe, director Helmuth Reichel Silva, who brought this new state of soul to two cities in the Province of Elqui and generated great interest among attendees.

Audiences of all ages and even from surrounding towns came to the Palace Cultural Center of Coquimbo to learn about the important work carried out by the regional orchestra in the territory. In this way, students and parents of the Manuel de Salas de Guanaqueros School came to the venue, inspired and motivated by their music teacher, René Aguirre, who pointed out: “I have known the Symphony Orchestra since I was studying and I always wanted to bring the boys and girls to come to a concert, and now the opportunity was given thanks to the Preferential School Subsidy (SEP), which allowed us to bring all the children from our orchestra," adding that as a school community they have managed to form a small string ensemble and witnessing this event “allows them to stimulate their senses, learn the technique of maintaining silence, respect everything that happens within the theater and, obviously, it is a unique experience that I hope we can repeat often.”

Emilia Zambra Ossandón, a student at the Manuel de Salas establishment, was extremely receptive to the concert: “I thought it was great to see this concert with my friends. I was surprised because I had never seen a professional orchestra, I really liked how they performed the works," said the student, who added that her dream is to be able to dedicate herself to music: "I still play violin and I would love to play like them because music It gives me happiness, it makes me feel happy when I can achieve something or learn a song or release a new melody,” he commented.

The fourth evening of the year included a great selection of works, including the 'Water Music' Suite No. 2 by the prominent composer George Frederic Handel, and the 'Flute Concerto No. 2 in D Major' by the Austrian genius Wolfgang Amadeus. Mozart, which featured a brilliant performance by the flute soloist and member of the professional ensemble, Milén Godoy. The repertoire also included the 'Czech Suite Op.39', a dizzying work written by Antonin Dvořák, to end with the piece called 'Ligereza', written by the young national teacher, Miguel Farías.

After the presentations of Coquimbo and La Serena, the Chilean composer delved into the work written for the 'Enthusiasm and Diversion' program of the Universidad de La Serena Symphony Orchestra: “Lightness gives me the idea when the orchestra asks me for the piece and talks about the theme of the concert; So, when they asked me that, I was just traveling in the south of Chile and while I was thinking about what to do, I saw some leaves falling from a tree and something as simple as a small movement that develops for a long time occurred to me.” , he explained.

Finally, for the guest conductor, his fourth participation with the professional ensemble makes him feel “at home, because the relationship with the orchestra is deeper; "You have known the musicians for many years and they also do deeper and more intuitive musical work, so each concert with them is more pleasant and a more exciting experience."

These days, the professional orchestra is preparing its fifth journey through emotions, which will capture the 'Tragedy' through new symphonies from around the world. Two concerts are scheduled again in the Province of Elqui, the first for Thursday, July 11 in the Performing Arts Room of the Palace Cultural Center, and the second in the Aula Magna of the ULS on Friday, July 12. Both presentations will be at 20:00 p.m. and are free of charge, without withdrawal of invitations.

Written by Camila Pérez, University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra

This is a project financed by the Social Media Fund of the Government of Chile and the Regional Council.

This Sunday, July 7, at noon, Radio Universitaria FM, the station of the University of La Serena, will broadcast a new cycle of programs dedicated to women authors and composers from the Coquimbo Region.

This new radio space, financed by the Social Media Fund of the Government of Chile and the Regional Council, aims to make the community aware of the musical and composition work of various authors from our area, such as María Illanes, Franca Miranda, Cecilia Zamorano and María Inés Bravo.

The cycle of 4 programs will be hosted by musician and professor Raúl “Talo” Pinto, who will talk with the composers and record their performances live.

The programs will also be distributed in various educational establishments in La Serena and Coquimbo.

“Women authors and composers of the Coquimbo Region” will be broadcast on Sundays, at noon, through 94.5 FM and its online signal.

First interviewee

The guest at the first program will be María Cecilia Zamorano Rieu, a music teacher and former ULS student, who since she was little and due to the encouragement of her parents and siblings, dedicated herself to the practice of folklore, that is, the roots of our traditional culture. As a high school student, she was the national cueca champion along with her brothers.

At the same time, she began to create texts and music based on the rhythms of our tradition, which she makes known through different folk groups in the country, which she herself has formed such as the CEVICHO duo that she forms with Víctor González and the Marejada group. This past summer she participated as a finalist in several folkloric festivals.

This Saturday, June 29, a conversation will be held between visual artists from the “Eclipse” project of the Matucana 100 Cultural Center and astronomers from the state campus, in addition to a concert that will have audiovisual and atmospheric resources.

With an attractive concert by the University Orchestra and a conversation between astronomers from the University of La Serena and visual artists from the “Eclipse” project that is presented at the Matucana 100 Cultural Center, the regional study house will put the finishing touch to a cycle of activities that have had the purpose of educating and sharing knowledge with the community about the upcoming eclipse on July 2.

The musical presentation will be performed by the La Serena University Orchestra, a cast belonging to the ULS Music Department and directed by academic Manuel Figueroa-Bolvarán. The group will perform the work "Los Planetas" Op.32, by the English composer Gustav Holst. The work, composed especially for a large orchestra and with instruments rarely used in the orchestral repertoire, is a suite of seven movements based on each of the planets, except for Earth and Pluto (which until then had not been discovered and which is currently already is not considered a planet). In the suite, each planet represents its mythological deity, with Mars being the "bringer of war", Jupiter, that of "joy" and so on.

The presentation, to be held this Saturday, June 29 in the Aula Magna of the Ignacio Domeyko Campus of the ULS (Benavente 980), from 19:00 p.m., will have audiovisual and atmospheric resources, in order to create a sensation in the public completely "spatial".

Verónica García, a Bachelor of Music graduate and spokesperson for the orchestra, commented that "the work is a great challenge that few orchestras usually take on, either because of the large number of people needed, because of its duration or because of its technical difficulty. Even so, as an orchestra we wanted to prepare this gift to the community in advance of the solar eclipse, since it is one of the works that best represents an astronomical event like this."

For his part, Manuel Figueroa-Bolvarán, artistic director of the cast, pointed out that "this concert will be framed within the official activities of the University regarding the 2019 solar eclipse, which makes us very happy, since it is a joint effort between different departments and academics of the University. We will be in charge of closing the day with an iconic work in the orchestral repertoire. It will be a very attractive event for the public in the region."

Conversation

Before this musical presentation, starting at 18:00 p.m., on the same university campus, the AstroSerena cycle discussion will take place between the astronomers from the university, Guillermo Damke and Rodolfo Angeloni, and the artists participating in the project. “Eclipse”, a collective exhibition open to the public at Matucana 100 that takes place within the framework of the total eclipse and other milestones in astronomy and science that are commemorated in 2019.

The exhibition curated by Ximena Moreno (Chile) and Lydia Korndörfer (Germany), considers works present in the exhibition that seek to reflect from different angles on the notion of light, darkness, optics and scale. National, German and British artists participate in the project.

Ximena Moreno explained that the initiative “is installed as a program that includes certain talks and conversations. On the other hand, it gives continuity to a will on which a lot of focus has been placed recently, which is to dialogue with regions other than the Metropolitan. Therefore, putting the focus on this scientific accent, but at the same time closely linked to the University of La Serena, is very important for us.”

Both activities at the University of La Serena are free of charge and open to the public.

Written by Gonzalo Lozano, DirCom

The program was assimilated to being on a roller coaster, due to the contrast that the pieces selected for this musical journey will have.

“When a concert is inspired by enthusiasm and fun, great works such as those by Händel and Mozart are programmed, which are clearly works that fulfill, in the best sense of the word, the objective of fun. And, on the other hand, we have a work by Farías that we are going to contrast with the Czech suite by Dvořák. These works have in common that they represent what the composer wants to convey from the point of view of fun, of satisfying the need to bring the joy of music to the people,” explains Helmuth Reichel Silva, the young and daring conductor who will conduct the IV Season Concert of the University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra.

As the director says, the programming that will put the finishing touch to the month of June is titled: 'Enthusiasm and Fun'. A new state of soul through which we will soon travel, which will take place in two new destinations in the region and which seeks to embody the most beautiful symphonies of the European and Chilean repertoire. Among them is the 'Water Music Suite N°2' by the German composer George Frederic Händel, 'Ligereza', a piece of Chilean origin written by the maestro Miguel Farías, the 'Czech Suite, Op.39' by the Czech composer Antonin Dvořák and the 'Flute Concerto No. 2 in D Major', by the Austrian genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which will be performed by the outstanding performer of the professional ensemble, Milén Godoy.

In the words of the soloist, Mozart's concerto for transverse flute in D Major “is one of the classic concertos in the universal repertoire of flutists. It is a roller coaster of emotions, it expresses the various moods and personality of the composer; at times very happy and at times, it is a hymn to avoid the nostalgia and pain that was consuming Mozart at that time. It is a great challenge that we performers have when playing this piece, because we must show the differences with different energies and also make music,” says Godoy.

For Helmuth Reichel, the piece that Milén will embody is “a beautiful work that is originally for oboe in another key, which is C Major. The interesting thing is that in Mozart's time there were some concertos that were written for one instrument, but that were also performed on others and this is a case of that. Although the music is the same, the instrument changes and the atmosphere also changes; only due to the fact that the solo instrument has another color, another timbre and that marks a very clear difference with respect to the oboe concerto. The brilliance of the flute makes the work have a much clearer vividness and stands out on its own. So it is a beautiful opportunity for the public to listen to this flute concerto, which is also not done very often; So it is very interesting to have this work in the program,” says the young director.

One trip, two destinations

The program is scheduled to visit two cities in the Province of Elqui, with the first stop being the commune of Coquimbo. The meeting will be in the Performing Arts Room of the Palace Cultural Center, next Thursday, June 27. And on Friday, June 28, it is the turn of the Aula Magna of the Ignacio Domeyko Campus of the University of La Serena. Both presentations will take place at 20:00 p.m. and admission is free without withdrawal of invitations.

It should be noted that the development of this season is carried out thanks to the support and financing of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, which since 2016 has been attached to the National Budget Glosa; in addition to the important institutional support provided by the University of La Serena, through the Directorate of Linkage with the Environment and Extension (DIVEULS); the Municipality of La Serena, through its Department of Culture; and the Municipality of Coquimbo in conjunction with its Department of Culture.

Written by Camila Pérez, University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra

The audience highlighted the brilliant selection of the program and the passion given by the performers of the professional ensemble.

With two massive concerts for chamber format, the String and Wind Ensemble of the University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra conquered the effervescent public of the Province of Elqui with an inspiring program, within the framework of the II Chamber Music Concert of the Season 2019: 'A journey through emotions'.

The territorial event was conducted by great interpreters of the symphonic ensemble, of which the following stand out: Leonardo Godoy, Paulina Elgueta and Daniel Navea (violin), Polyana Brehmer and Ricardo Muñoz (viola), Monserrat Trujillo (violoncello), Leonardo Cuevas (oboe) and Erick Delgado (clarinet), who performed three sublime works from the European repertoire, putting the finishing touch to the musical event.

The pieces selected for this chamber program were the 'Quartet for Oboe and Strings K.370 in F Major' and the 'Quartet in F Major K 496 for clarinet, violin, viola and cello' by the acclaimed Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in addition from the work titled 'Quartet No. 12, Op. 96 in American F Major' by maestro Antonín Dvořák, who was considered the main representative of Czech nationalism in music and known as one of the great teachers of the second half of the century XIX.

The musical journey began with the Territorial Extension Concert in the historic neighborhood of Guayacán, in front of a completely full Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In the words of the Coordinator of the Department of Culture of the Illustrious Municipality of Coquimbo, José Manuel Jiménez, this presentation “was wonderful and for this reason, on behalf of Mayor Marcelo Pereira, I thank the University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra and its ensemble for giving us a concert of such a high level, full of spirit and in a space that invites us to reflect. It was a concert for the soul, people enjoyed it and it is an example for the Guayacán Youth Orchestra that we are creating and that was present today; This is very useful for young people so that they can see what a professional orchestra is.”

Given this, Victoria Jofré, a member of the Guayacán Youth Orchestra, said she was very excited to witness this concert: “for us, as youth musicians, it is an inspiration to see these teachers, that motivates us to continue studying to become like they. I really liked the repertoire they offered today, a lot of passion and strength was evident in the execution of each piece. “Each of the musicians expressed a lot of feeling.”

Subsequently, the successful musical program was shared with the city of La Serena and the residents of sectors surrounding the regional capital, who came to the Aula Magna Ignacio Domeyko of the University of La Serena to enjoy this magnificent concert.

These days, the entire professional orchestra is rehearsing and preparing a new journey through emotions with the IV Official Season Concert, which will be conducted by the acclaimed German conductor, Helmuth Reichel, who will share the stage with the outstanding soloist regional, Milén Godoy, second flute of the symphonic ensemble. This presentation will take place on Thursday, June 27 at the Palace Cultural Center in Coquimbo and on Friday, June 28 in the Aula Magna of the ULS.

It should be noted that the realization of this season is thanks to the financing of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, which since 2016 has been attached to the National Budget Glosa; in addition to the important institutional support provided by the University of La Serena, through the Directorate of Linkage with the Environment and Extension (DIVEULS); the Municipality of La Serena, through its Department of Culture; and the Municipality of Coquimbo in conjunction with its Department of Culture.

Written by Camila Pérez, University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra