Mariachi Champaña Nevin on stage with Santa Rosa Symphony for Latin Waves Festival finale April 26 at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts

News Release Contact:
Sara Obuchowski, (707) 546-7097 ext 218

March 13 , 2008

(SANTA ROSA, CA) – Santa Rosa Symphony’s Latin Waves Festival concludes at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts on Saturday, April 26 at 8 p.m. with Mexico: ¡Viva el Mariachi! The concert features the full orchestra in collaboration with Mariachi Champaña Nevin, and SRS Assistant Conductor Richard Loheyde on the podium.

The Santa Rosa Symphony will play Huapango by Jose Pablo Moncayo and Sones de Mariachi by Blas Galindo, and will then be joined on-stage by Mariachi Champaña Nevin. This 8-member ensemble is a blend of “born and bred” mariachi musicians and classical players directed by trumpeter and group founder Jeff Nevin. Dr. Nevin, who is a professor of music at Southwestern College as well as a player and composer, will be host and guide for this portion of the evening’s musical exploration. He will provide a historical and cultural context for the mariachi program which includes such pieces as Guadalajara, La Malaguena, Cielito lindo, Estrellita, La negra and more.

Mariachi Champaña Nevin has been called “one of the most engaging, relevant and artistically viable crossover projects to emerge from the orchestra world.” (Complete biographical information at the end of this release.)

Concert Underwriter
The Santa Rosa Symphony gratefully acknowledges Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, Barbara Banke & Jess Jackson, The James Irvine Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts for making the Latin Waves festival series possible.

Concert Times and Prices
The Latin Waves Festival Finale: Mexico: ¡Viva el Mariachi! takes place on Saturday, April 26 at 8 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. Individual tickets range from $27 to $50. Special group discounts for local companies are available for this performance.

Purchasing Tickets
For tickets, call (707) 546-8742, purchase online at santarosasymphony.com, or come in person to the Symphony Box Office at 50 Santa Rosa Avenue (North Coast Bank building, off the elevator lobby), from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, Wednesdays 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets may also be purchased at the door 1½ hours before each performance (subject to availability.)

Mariachi Champaña Nevin

Jeff Nevin, PhD, Artistic Director

Mariachi Champaña Nevín has made a name for itself as a virtuoso ensemble of uncompromising quality with a multicultural aesthetic unique in the world of music. Led by accomplished classical and mariachi trumpeter, composer, professor and author Jeff Nevin, Ph.D., this ensemble’s performances, recordings and workshops have thrilled and inspired mariachi and classical-music enthusiasts alike. Turning effortlessly from very traditional Mexican standards to transcriptions of beloved works from classical music literature, they embody the best of both worlds in every performance.
The only mariachi in the world of its kind, Symphonic Mariachi Champaña Nevín boasts current or former members of mariachis Vargas de Tecalitlán, Sol de México, Los Camperos and others along with current or former principal strings and trumpets from orchestras including the San Diego Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Orquesta Filharmónica de la Ciudad de México, and Orqesta de Baja California.

Spearheading the newest trend in mariachi music, Nevin—drawing on his unique position as Ph.D. in Music Composition and life-long mariachi musician—has expertly created hours of original and traditional music scored for mariachi and symphony orchestra, including the world’s first Concerto for Mariachi and Orchestra (“Pasión Mexicana”), the world’s first song cycle for mariachi (“Al Aire Libre / Canciones Para Entrar en Materia / from the poetry of Alberto Blanco”), a wonderful Mexican Christmas celebration (“La Fiesta de la Nochebuena”), and numerous original arrangements of traditional mariachi songs..

Nevin and Mariachi Champaña Nevín have appeared on television in at least 7 countries, they have recorded 5 full-length compact discs most recently becoming the first mariachi to release a full-length solo CD with a major American orchestra (“Classic Mariachi LIVE!” with the San Diego Symphony), they are featured in the documentary film Viva el Mariachi, they recorded the theme song to the Televisa TV program Viva California, Viva Mexico which airs 12 times per week, and they have become frequent guests of KPBS radio and television in San Diego both performing live in studio and conducting interviews discussing various issues related to their work.

Saturday, April 26, 2008, 8 p.m.
Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa

MEXICO – ¡Viva el Mariachi!
Santa Rosa Symphony
Dr. Richard Loheyde, conductor
with Mariachi Champaña Nevín

Moncayo: Huapango
Galindo: Sones de mariachi
Pelea de gallos
Guadalajara, Cielito lindo and more...