Nearly 2 thousand people, of all ages, were part of the expected repertoire of the ULS professional orchestra.

With a significant and exciting concert aimed at the families of the Coquimbo Region, the University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra starred, in the heart of the regional capital, in its last program of the 2018 season. It was the 'Christmas of Cultures' concert. ', which had the valuable support of the youth voices of the U. de La Serena Choral Ensemble, the extraordinary talent of the tenor Gonzalo Tomckowiack and the soprano Camila Gallardo and the mastery of the actresses Claudia Hernández and Rocío Flores.

This year's proposal considered an attractive Christmas story, which rescued the true meaning of these holidays: the affection and encounter with loved ones, the joy and the long-awaited welcome of the baby Jesus; moving away from consumerism and excessive purchases that increase considerably around this time.

In the words of the playwright, the story “recounted on stage a trip through the countries of the world (…). Naturally, since it was a family concert, the story was oriented more towards children, towards magic, towards the message that gifts are not the only important thing, because everything is distorted these days; values, people become desperate with consumption at Christmas, and everyone who cannot consume also suffers a lot, and this concert was a contribution to living a different Christmas," commented Claudia Hernández.

Nearly 2 people filled the Cathedral of La Serena to experience this magical night of music and theater, an instance in which the Archbishop of La Serena, René Rebolledo, also gave his impression: “I congratulate the University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra for this initiative. The turnout was extraordinary and I appreciated that the Cathedral temple was packed with attendees. The program and the way it was offered was also very creative. It helped us all get into the typical Christmas atmosphere, just as it is experienced in other latitudes and in our country. “I value the concert as a magnificent instance of preparation for the spirit that must reign in these days: joy, solidarity and preparation for the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world,” he stated.

Those who most enjoyed this artistic fusion and the sounds of the world were the youngest members of the house. For Joaquín Zepeda Araya, 11 years old, the concert was wonderful: “I really enjoyed listening to Christmas carols from different parts of the world, and the sound of the instruments sounded very powerful. I also really liked that in each of the carols there was a different story about Christmas,” he said excitedly.

In the case of Ana María Fernández, a regular attendee of the symphony orchestra's programming, this concert “was fantastic, as were all the concerts they give throughout the year. In particular, this Christmas repertoire is so anticipated by everyone that having the possibility of seeing them alongside other great artists from the region, such as soprano and actresses, is truly a privilege and we should feel extremely proud to have such great artists. level in our city.”

For his part, Mauricio Miranda, a resident of Ovalle, indicated that this concert deeply captivated him, “I found it very interesting, really very beautiful because it comes out of everything that one is used to seeing. They merged different artistic disciplines and that made it even more striking; The orchestra, the choir, the soloists were great, and the introduction they gave to the children through the story was a very nice contribution.”

The musical journey was under the direction of another prominent regional artist, maestro Rodrigo Tapia, who was also responsible for making the arrangements for each of the Christmas pieces. From her musical perception, the conductor maintained that “we offered a very complete proposal for the listeners, since we played songs and carols from all over the world, many of them never heard before; So a very interesting program was put together that travels through different rhythms, forms and characters, and that makes it quite interesting for everyone and no one was left indifferent. Furthermore, when it is tied together by a beautiful Christmas story, it makes for a perfect hour and a half program.”

With this free repertoire aimed at the whole family, the ensemble belonging to the Network of Professional Regional Orchestras of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage closes a fruitful and colossal 2018 season, called 'The Symphony of Cultures' , which gave rise to an important list of guest directors and soloists, of great prestige nationally and internationally, who gave great shows.

Each of the presentations in 2018 were possible thanks to the valuable support and financing of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, subject to the National Budget Glosa since 2016; the collaboration of the University of La Serena and the Illustrious Municipality of La Serena, through its Department of Culture and the Municipal Theater.

However, the music does not stop, since the professional orchestra is fine-tuning all the preparations to offer the community and tourists who arrive during the summer season to the Estrella Region, the XXXIV version of the La Serena Musical Encounters (of January 3 to 19), which includes an attractive and unmissable schedule of activities ranging from choral conducting courses, to training and academic classes, and concerts with ensembles and orchestras.

Source: Press Symphony Orchestra University of La Serena

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'Christmas of Cultures' is the name of the last program that the professional group will offer in its 2018 Season.

With a magical journey through the harmonies of Europe and Latin America, captured in a single and great concert in the Cathedral of La Serena, the Universidad de La Serena Symphony Orchestra prepares its season closing with an unforgettable musical program inspired by the union and essence of this date of family rejoicing, called the 'Christmas of Cultures'.

“The concert itself is a trip, it is Santa Claus who goes to different parts of the world; It passes through North America, Latin America and Europe, and arrives in our Chilean homes with Christmas carols that have different forms and musical styles, but all with the same purpose, which is to praise the birth of the baby Jesus," said the guest director of this long-awaited concert. of the season, Rodrigo Tapia Salfate, who added that “it is an interesting and varied proposal, for all tastes, which mixes different musical styles and genres, where the popular and the learned are fused with the orchestra, the choir and the soloists.”

The Christmas concert, one of the most anticipated of the year by the community of the Coquimbo Region, will bring together various artistic disciplines on stage and will feature the collaboration of talented artists from the territory: the actresses Claudia Hernández and Rocío Flores, the Vocal Ensemble of the University of La Serena and the guest soloists, Gonzalo Tomckwiack, tenor and director of the aforementioned ensemble, and the soprano Camila Pizarro.

The director of said Ensemble, who has had an active participation with the Universidad de La Serena Symphony Orchestra and the development of its successful and multicultural 2018 season, said he was very grateful for “the opportunity to participate in the seasons of the regional orchestra. We have worked very well and with very good results”, alluding that the Christmas concert will be very innovative.

“The orchestra closes a cycle of concerts that throughout the year dedicated its programs to different countries, and now they all come together in a beautiful concert with popular Christmas carols from Europe and Latin America. “It will definitely be very emotional,” said Tomckowiack.

The symphonic evening also includes a Christmas story. “The entire presentation will be linked through a story, a modern story, which makes it even more interesting to the public, and, above all, to the boys and girls who attend this beautiful concert that we are preparing,” said the teacher. Tapia Salfate, who was responsible for the arrangements and adaptations of the Christmas songs that the orchestra will perform next Thursday, December 13, at 21:00 p.m., at the Cathedral of La Serena (corner Gregorio Cordovez #327).

Finally, Mayor Roberto Jacob said he was “very happy to have this high-level concert again. I am sure that the La Serena University Symphony Orchestra will surprise us with their Christmas repertoire; For this reason, I want to invite all the people of Serena to have a good time and be delighted with these excellent musicians, who have always been a valuable contribution to the culture of our region and of La Serena in particular.”

It is expected that families from the conurbation and surrounding areas, as well as residents of neighboring communes, will come to the colonial city to be part of one of the concerts most desired by adults and children. 'Christmas of Cultures' will be free of charge and open to the public.

It should be noted that this concert is organized by the La Serena Regional Symphony Orchestra Foundation and financed by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage and the Illustrious Municipality of La Serena. In addition, it has the valuable collaboration of the University of La Serena.

Source: Press Symphony Orchestra University of La Serena

The activity organized by DIVEULS and the Mineduc Project - ULS 1799, is aimed at all audiences who are interested in participating in a pleasant conversation around the topic, together with two prominent speakers.

An invitation to participate in a reflective activity on Human Rights and Inclusion in an educational context is being carried out by the Directorate of Linkage with the Environment and Extension (DIVEULS) and the Comprehensive Support Program for Students of the University of La Serena, within the framework of inclusion and universal accessibility (Project ULS1799).

This activity titled “Human Rights and Inclusion: challenges and opportunities for education”, will take place on Wednesday, December 12, at 10:00 a.m., in the Aula Magna ULS, located at Benavente 980, La Serena, with free admission .

On the occasion, the conversations will be guided by the academic from the Catholic University of Valparaíso, Giselle Melo, and the Director of the Museum of Memory, Francisco Javier Estévez.

This seminar is a preview of what will be the Raúl Bitrán 2019 Chair, whose central theme will be: “Building inclusive universities for human development.”

Source: DIVEULS press

The person in charge of delivering the service was the Training Office of the University of La Serena.

The entire work team of the Gabriela Mistral Regional Library was trained in the course “Public Service and Conflict Management”, taught by the Otec of the University of La Serena. This course seeks to develop strategies to enable competencies that allow an organization's collaborators to deliver a timely service to satisfy the needs of users, through human interpersonal contact between the person providing it and the person receiving it.

The Gabriela Mistral Regional Library is a public space, recently inaugurated, and which serves a large number of people every day. This is one of the reasons that led the regional team to take a training course that collaborates in achieving one of its main objectives, providing the community with an environment that allows them to enjoy, explore and create, connecting various generations, territories and communities of the Coquimbo Region. An important reason to look for the tools that allow you to achieve these objectives.

For one of his students, Jorge Henríquez, this was a very profitable activity. “I found it to be a super interesting activity, approached by my work team. In reality, the theme is super useful for our daily work, which is attention and mediation with users. The idea of ​​being able to improve our interpersonal relationships not only with the public, but also as a team seems very interesting to me,” he stated.

For her part, for its speaker, Viviana Osiadacz, master coach - soft skills trainer, “it has been a super rewarding course. It has been a course where I have met many young people, many millennials, and the truth is that it has been tremendously interesting for me to work with them because they have another focus, they have another vision. So in that sense, I believe that all the content that was addressed, plus the practices and dynamics that were used, made it possible for them to follow and make sense of this course (…) I think it was quite useful and quite favorable.”

This training was given by the ULS Training Office and in a “closed” mode for the work team of the Regional Library, which means that the work and dynamics carried out during the classes focused on their real needs as a group, those of them and the public with whom they work.

For inquiries about open and closed courses, contact phone number 2204172, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on the Office's Facebook page.

The closing concert by the La Serena University Symphony Orchestra paid tribute to Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt and Alejandro Guarello.

Forceful and masterful was the development of the MUSICAHORA Festival in La Serena. A regional event that celebrated its fifteen years of existence and the rescue of contemporary music with a week full of attractive activities, from talks and colloquiums to concerts in chamber and symphonic formats; the latter, acclaimed by the community itself, local and guest musicians, and specialized critics.

The closing was marked by a bold program by the La Serena University Symphony Orchestra and the impeccable mastery of two guest virtuoso Chilean musicians. Helmuth Reichel Silva, praised for his deep musicality and inspiring temperament, and who is positioned as one of the most interesting and versatile young teachers in South America.

The musician made his mark evident in the musical evening he offered in the regional capital, after 4 years of absence. “I feel very privileged to have worked with a great orchestra such as the La Serena University Symphony. They have a great musical idea, a great repertoire was presented and it was a pleasure to spend a week with them, doing a special program such as contemporary music, with Chilean composers, and something that is also very important, repertoire that has to be done regularly and “It was a great pleasure to bring it to the public,” he said.

For the concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile, Alberto Dourthé Castrillón, another of the prominent guest artists, his experience in northern lands was very positive; even more so, after meeting again and sharing the stage with several friends, colleagues and former students, such as the conductor of this closing concert: “I am very happy to have played with Helmuth, because he is a fantastic conductor and I was lucky enough to have him would direct. Furthermore, music itself has an intrinsic difficulty and this allowed me to play with great joy. As I always say, for me the important thing is to deliver a lot of affection and a lot of love in each note.”

Dourthé added that “it was a great honor to have played with this wonderful orchestra, credited with an incredible level and that must be highlighted. Likewise, there is a gigantic effort on the part of the orchestra, the festival organizers and the community, of this reality of making contemporary music that, many times, is not so appreciated."

Night of tributes

The MUSICAHORA Festival has a long journey of harvests and fruits that have allowed it to achieve fifteen years of success and musical rescue. In this framework, the 2018 version fascinated with sounds of great character, such as 'Happy Bird's Day' (2017) by Chilean Alejandro Guarello, who was recognized for being one of the promoters of this festival in La Serena: “it was quite significant participate in this version, I understand that my works, in these 15 years of festival, had not been done. And the paradoxical thing is, just as the artistic director said on stage, I helped this festival exist, because after founding the one in Santiago, the idea of ​​repeating it here in La Serena was born," said the musician, adding that "presenting this work with an orchestra It is a fantastic initiative, so it is a great honor and a great pleasure to return to La Serena in a circumstance like this.”

Another of the great honorees was Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt (1925-2010), whose 'Chamber Concerto' (1970) and 'Violin Concerto' (1952) were performed. According to the Artistic Director of the MUSICAHORA Festival, Esteban Correa, maestro Becerra “was a fundamental composer in the history of written tradition music in Chile, he was very prolific and very eclectic, who developed important work both here and in the foreigner (…) So for us it is very significant and it was appropriate to pay tribute to his figure.”

For Lincoln Torres Faundes, who was present at the IX Season Concert of the symphonic ensemble, “contemporary music has this thing that is not always understood; However, I have a little training in music and know something. As for the repertoire and this whole intention of making images and sensations known through music, like the birds in the first piece, it was very well done, just as Gustavo Becerra's last work was extraordinary. And the work of the orchestra, as always, is very professional and these instances are greatly appreciated.”

These days, the group belonging to the Network of Regional Professional Orchestras of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage is preparing a new musical evening, which this time will have Christmas as the occasion. Those who wish to be part of this unmissable and traditional annual concert with free admission, the community of the conurbation and surrounding areas is invited to attend next Thursday, December 13, at 20:00 p.m., at the Cathedral of La Serena, where The “Christmas of Cultures” concert will take place.

It should be noted that the realization of this 2018 Season, called 'The Symphony of Cultures', has the support and financing of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, through the National Budget Glosa since 2016; in addition to the collaboration of the University of La Serena and the Illustrious Municipality of La Serena, through its Department of Culture and the Municipal Theater.

Source: Press Symphony Orchestra University of La Serena

The exhibition, which closes the DIVEULS Exhibition Cycle, will remain open to the community until December 6.

A tour of the progress of an emerging painter such as Nelson Villegas, can be found these days in the Exhibition Hall of the University of La Serena, in the exhibition titled “Awakening to Art.” Painting works in different techniques and sizes accompany the walls of this room that houses exhibitions by various authors nationwide throughout the year.

For Nelson Villegas, this is an excellent opportunity not only to show his works, but also to express his opinion and contribute to the awakening of collective consciousness. “It has been something very special, something that has gone too fast, to achieve all these paintings (...) In reality, what happened to me is something very special, I felt something that I had to do and I started painting everything that is animals of the sea such as cetaceans, which today are in danger of extinction, due to the human being that is killing them (...) and I thought, I have to do something, I have to help and how can I do it. And what better than to paint them and for people to see them, to notice that they are beautiful.”

In this regard, Fernando Tapia, in charge of Culture of the Directorate of Links with the Environment and Extension, commented that “Nelson Villegas, a debut artist, who for a year has worked hard to be able to prepare this exhibition, works that are more of personal introspection. , a path of own research regarding the painting technique and also what is happening in the world currently, which makes it a quite interesting exhibition, so I invite you to visit it.”

The exhibition takes place in the Exhibition Hall located at Benavente 950, La Serena, and concludes the 2018 DIVEULS Exhibition Cycle. It will be available until December 6, from 10:00 a.m. to 13:00 p.m. and from 14:30 p.m. to 18:15 p.m., Monday to Thursday, and on Fridays from 14:00 p.m. to 17:00 p.m.

Source: DIVEULS press