The Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa is a Mexican

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

located in the city of

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexico, Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In 2020 census the city reported a population of 443,063 ...

, the capital of the state of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

. It was founded in 1929, and is considered the oldest symphony orchestra in Mexico.

History

The orchestra was established by

Adalberto Tejeda Olivares Sixto Adalberto Tejeda Olivares (28 March 1883 – 8 September 1960) was a Mexican politician, who served two terms (1920–1924 and 1928–1932) as Governor of Veracruz. He was born in Chicontepec de Tejeda, Veracruz. During the Mexican Revolu ...

, a patron of the arts, in his second term as Governor of the state of Veracruz. Members were recruited from the state band, and the orchestra's first performance was on 21 August 1929 in the "Teatro Lerdo" in Xalapa city. In its first performance the orchestra comprised 19 string players, 16 woodwind players, 3 drummers, and a piano player, under the direction of

first violin The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the most significant ...

Juan Lomán y Bueno. In 1975, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa Symphony became part of

Universidad Veracruzana Veracruzana University () is a public autonomous university located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Established in 1944, the university is one of the most important in the southeast region of México. Its academic organization is a structure ...

. Since 1929, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa plays with prestigious conductors and soloists like

Hermann Scherchen Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor, who was principal conductor of the city orchestra of Winterthur from 1922 to 1950. He promoted contemporary music, beginning with Schoenberg's '' Pierrot Lunaire'', follow ...

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Henryk Szeryng Henryk Bolesław Szeryng (usually pronounced ''HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g'') (22 September 19183 March 1988) was a Polish- Mexican violinist. Early years He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname ...

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, Jeffery Meyer and others. Nationally, the OSX has hosted important events in the artistic life of Mexico, among them the Festival and International Cello Competition Pablo Casals ( 1959 ), which the legendary

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has globally bec ...

André Navarra André-Nicolas Navarra (13 October 1911 – 31 July 1988) was a French cellist and cello teacher who was born in Biarritz and died in Siena. Early life He was born into a musical family in Biarritz, his father being a bassist of Italian desce ...

Zara Nelsova Zara Nelsova (December 23, 1918October 10, 2002) was a prominent cellist. Biography Nelsova was born as Sara Katznelson in Winnipeg, Canada, to parents of Jewish-Russian descent. Nelsova first performed at the age of five in Winnipeg. She eventua ...

and

, among others. The orchestra represented Mexico in the Europalia Festival (1993) and has done some international tours in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, and Guatemala, being recognized as the " best ambassador of music and Mexican creation ." On August 25, 2013, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa performed the first concert in its new concert hall at the Centro Cultural Tlaqná, with 1,285 seats. Tlaqná has other two minor concert halls, with 350 and 200 seats.

Conductors

* Juan Lomán y Bueno was the first

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

of the orchestra * José Ives Limantour (1944–1952) *

Luis Ximénez Caballero Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

(1952–1962) * Francisco Savín (1963–1967) * José Ives Limantour (1967–1969) *

Fernando Avila Navarro Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...

(1969–1975) *

Luis Herrera de la Fuente Luis Herrera de la Fuente (April 25, 1916 – December 5, 2014) was a Mexican conductor, pianist, violinist, composer and writer of the 20th century. De la Fuente gained many recognitions and awards in Mexico and worldwide. He conducted the Nati ...

(1975–1984) * Francisco Savín (1984–1986) *

Enrique Diemecke Enrique Arturo Diemecke (born July 9, 1952) is a Mexican conductor, violinist and composer. He is currently the Artistic General Director of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and music director of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic and the Flint, Mich ...

(1986–1987) * José Guadalupe Flore (1987–1990) * Francisco Savín (1990–2001) :es:Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa *

Carlos Miguel Prieto Carlos Miguel Prieto (born 14 November 1965) is a Mexican conductor. He is music director of the North Carolina Symphony, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria, and The Orchestra of the Americas in Washington, D.C.. Early life and education Prieto ...

(2002–2008) * Fernando Lozano Rodríguez (2008–2012) * Lanfranco Marcelletti (2012-2020) * Martin Lebel (since 2020)

References

External links

Xalapa Symphony Orchestra Official Site

Orquesta Sinfónica De Xalapa, 82 Años De Historia
from th
official Veracruz state tourism agency
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1929 Symphony orchestras Veracruz Mexican orchestras 1929 establishments in Mexico