Last week, I had the honor of conducting at the Puebla Cathedral as part of the International Palafoxiano Festival in Puebla, Mexico. The Festival celebrated the 480th anniversary of the founding of Puebla, a beautiful city with a rich arts tradition that is home to Mexico’s largest arts archive.
Puebla is a city that’s always been very dear to me, so I was particularly excited to participate in this important festival. Throughout my career I’ve conducted three or four major concerts at the Cathedral and have recorded ten CDs with music from the Cathedral’s archives, so it is a place that holds great joy for me as a musician.
As the Lamentations of Jeremiah was read, images on three large screens depicted the challenges faced by modern-day Mexico including violence, drug abuse, and violence against women. Even though the Hebrew Testament passage centers on the destruction of the Jewish Temple centuries ago, it was clear that it had much to say to us today.
As it was the start of Holy Week, the concert also included a musical interpretation of Tenebrae in which fifteen candles are gradually extinguished, leaving the church in total darkness. A performance of two compositions written in the 18th and 19th centuries by Ignacio Jerusalem and Manuel Arenzana that had not been heard in 200 years were also performed, featuring mezzo soprano Carla Dirlikov and bass David Cushing.
Daniel Doña, a BU alumnus and current faculty member at CFA, was among the small group of Boston-based musicians that traveled to Puebla. Doña eagerly describes his experience participating in the festival: “Performing works of Mexican Baroque composers in the shadow of the cathedral where these pieces were first heard was quite a thrilling experience. The interdisciplinary program that Dean Juárez created melding elements of theater, visual arts and music came off to great effect!” He continues, “The fact that the local musicians do not have many opportunities to collaborate with musicians from outside of Puebla, along with the great pride they exhibited in performing works of their home city, made our visit especially memorable. I sincerely hope that this is only the beginning of an ongoing relationship with these musicians and the festival.” (This paragraph from BU press release.)
Many dignitaries were present, including the governor, bishop, and archbishop, several university presidents and leading members of the military. The local newspaper, El Sol de Puebla, featured the concert on the front page the next day.
