Check out our first TASTE Vegas Arts Digest of 2023 for a creative start to your New Year! #EatMoreArt #VegasBornArts #vegasculture
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This holiday season, the UNLV Performing Arts Center will present “A Very Merry Christmas” starring the dynamic ensemble Mariachi Herencia de México at the Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m.
Filled with music and cheer for the whole family, the Latin GRAMMY®-nominated group will perform Mexican and American favorites, including their hit “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Los Peces en el Rio,” “Sleigh Ride,” “Mi Burrito Sabanero,” and many more.
In 2017, Mariachi Herencia de México scored a Latin GRAMMY® nomination in the “Best Ranchero/Mariachi Album” category for the group’s debut album titled Nuestra Herencia. The group’s follow-up album, Herencia De La Tierra Mía, was released in 2018 and features guest vocals by two superstars of Mexican music, folkloric/fusion artist Lila Downs and veteran mariachi singer Aida Cuevas.
The group of young Mexican American musicians has released four highly acclaimed studio albums with chart-topping debuts on both the Billboard and the iTunes Latin Albums charts, defying a music industry trend and pointing to a revival in recorded mariachi music.
Mariachi Herencia de México has toured throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, performing in some of the most prestigious performing arts centers across the continent, including The Kennedy Center and Guadalajara’s Teatro Degollado.
The UNLV Performing Arts Center is the original home for the arts in Southern Nevada; it opened in 1976 and celebrates its 46th season in 2022-2023. It hosts a variety of performances and events and is home to self-produced events plus productions of the Nevada Conservatory Theatre, UNLV School of Music, UNLV Dance, and the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus, among many other community arts presenters. The UNLV PAC also hosts various Clark County School District fine arts festivals and concerts. V
Single tickets are priced from $20-$50 (discounts available) and may be purchased by telephone at 702-895-ARTS (2787), online at pac.unlv.edu or at the PAC box office from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. When purchasing tickets, consider donating to the Performing Arts Center to provide local students the opportunity to work with all the outstanding artists.
Alex Stopa is a drummer, percussionist, marimba soloist, and composer based in Las Vegas; chances are, he has played for you if you are a local. An active member of our community, he has performed at every type of gig. From the Create Our Recovery concert series in vaccine clinics to the open air of Water Street to the Smith Center, he brings the beat that keeps us grooving. Born in Australia, Stopa moved to Las Vegas in 2001, where he has since performed for a wide variety of musical acts, including the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Cirque du Soleil, Le Rêve, resident and touring Broadway musicals, and headliner acts, including Aretha Franklin, The Who, Amy Grant, Idina Menzel, and Placido Domingo. His original compositions and arrangements reflect his diversity as a performer. Drawing inspiration from classical, jazz, pop, rock, and world music, his music blurs the lines between genres, and his pieces are performed frequently around the world.
Spiral is an original composition for a percussion quartet that fuses classical, pop, and jazz styles. Stopa writes of the piece, “As a musician living in Las Vegas, I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to perform a broad range of musical styles. One night I might be in the Smith Center with the Philharmonic or a touring Broadway show; the next, I might be in a jazz or rock club. The music that I write is inspired by this diversity.
Spiral was composed for the Pana Percussion Quartet, a group that I’ve performed for over a decade. I remember reading that Duke Ellington would often write music tailored to the individual strengths of his band members. As I composed Spiral, I kept this in mind, writing parts that I hoped would reflect the personalities of the group.
The piece is built around a repeated rhythmic motif: a pattern of five that can be heard on the vibraphone near the beginning of the piece. I imagined this spiraling pattern as the rhythmic DNA of the work; a musical double helix. This imagery formed the inspiration for the title”.
Pana Percussion Quartet is Alex Stopa, Ryun Louie, Jeffery Crowell, and Eliseo Rael.
In keeping with his local pride, Stopa chose Art Square Theatre in Downtown Las Vegas to shoot his video with a local film crew, including Emmy award-winning editor and director Michael Tushaus (Digisphere Productions) with cinematographer Tim Harbour and camera operator Gray Gubler. The recording engineer was Josh Connolly (Studio A), and mix engineer was Robby Wingfield. This project is supported in part by the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Check out this new #vegasmusic - a fine example of #VegasBornArts!
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