IV Symphony: Mexican ‘Sones y Danzas: A Salute to Mexican Composers’

EL CENTRO — Imperial Valley Symphony Director and SHS Music Chair, Dr. Matthew Busse, thought it would be interesting to prepare ‘ Sones y Danzas: A Salute to Mexican Composers,’ featuring Mexican composers due to the proximity to the border and a predominantly Hispanic population.

‘Sones y Danzas: A Salute to Mexican Composers’ will feature the regular Imperial Valley Symphony plus the Southwest High School Orchestra.

Busse hopes this concert’s theme will create an outreach and build a greater audience for the arts locally.

“Maybe more will people say: ‘Wait a minute, they are doing all Mexican composers, I want to go hear this,’” Busse said, “then they will appreciate hearing the symphony and they’ll start coming to our concerts regularly.”

‘Sones y Danzas: A Salute to Mexican Composers’ program will include musical pieces such as “Conga del Fuego Nuevo and Danzón No. 8” by Arturo Márquez and “Huapango de Moncayo and Sinfonietta” by José Pablo Moncayo.

There’s a particular piece called “Desert Epograft” he is working on with Dante Ojeda Wancho, a Mexicali composer.

The Imperial Valley Symphony group itself is a mix of local and San Diego talent. For this concert, Busse tried to reach out to orchestras in Mexicali but, due to logistical reasons, the binational merge wasn’t possible.

“We are planning to work together in the future,” Busse said.

Nevertheless, the Jimmie Cannon Theatre at Southwest High School will display the talent of the Imperial Valley’s orchestras and Mexican composer’s masterpieces on March 11.

“I want everybody to try to come out and appreciate the heritage of these Mexican composers, and continue to support our symphony,” Busse said.

He said the local syphony relies on donations to keep their concerts free for the Imperial Valley community.

“Anybody else who wants to go to hear a symphony orchestra, you’d probably have to go to San Diego and drive over there, but we have one right in our backyard that’s very capable of playing decent music and providing a free night of entertainment,” Busse said of the Imperial Valley Symphony.

IVP FILE PHOTO / ELIZABETH MAYORAL CORPUS PHOTO Michael Busse, PhD, music director and conductor of the Imperial Valley Symphony, welcomes the audience to the Young Artist Concert, featuring performances by seven local students, at the Jimmie Cannon Theater for the Performing Arts in El Centro, on June 4, 2022.

IVP FILE PHOTO / VINCENT OSUNA PHOTO A scene from “Game of Thrones” plays as music from the TV show is performed during Southwest High School Orchestra’s “Night at the Movies” concert at the Jimmie Cannon Theater for the Performing Arts in El Centro, October 4, 2019.