The end-of-semester concert has become a treasured tradition for the Orchestra and Choir of the University of Bremen. This year, on Monday, January 29, 2018, at 8 pm, music from Mexico will be on the program in “Die Glocke” concert hall. The concert is titled “Sueños Dreams of a Better World”. Under the direction of University Music Director Dr. Susanne Gläß, the audience will be treated to performances of three works by contemporary Mexican composers. The soloists are Nathalie Mittelbach and Luis Olivares Sandoval from the Bremen Theater.

Rich music culture

123 million people live in Mexico, almost a third more than in Germany. Especially since the revolution, they have produced a rich and independent musical culture. It seeks its equal and is not exhausted in Mariachi. Composers past and present in the Central American country have created moving and pioneering contributions to the world's classical music.

Non-violence and peace

The country is still in search of a way to create fair social conditions. The concert at the end of the winter semester 2017/18 performed by the Orchestra and Choir of the University features three compelling works on this subject. In the cantata “El Sol”, composed by Carlos Chávez in 1934, the call is for a redistribution of land ownership. In his symphonic poem “La Tierra de Temporal” written in 1949, Pablo Moncayo recalls the revolutionary leader Zapata. And in 2005 Arturo Márquez takes up the ideas of the Zapatistas from Chiapas in his cantata “Sueños”. He advocates non-violence and sets music to the visionary words of Chief Seattle, Martin Luther King, and Mahatma Gandhi: “If there is no way to peace, then peace itself is the way.” In all the “Sueños” texts, the theme is about the power of dreams and non-violence in paving the way to a better world. The cantata, which will be experiencing its European premiere, is the evening’s main feature.

Thanks to sponsors

The very special concert is made possible by the generous donations of the Karin and Uwe Hollweg Foundation, the Waldemar Koch Foundation, and the Association for the Fördervereins Universitätsmusik an der Universität Bremen e.V. [Association of University Music at the University of Bremen e.V.]

Reservations

Tickets cost 26, 22, 18 and 12 euro (reduced 13, 11, 9 and 6 euro) and are available from the Weser Kurier-Pressehaus, from Nordwest Ticket (phone: 0421 36 36 36), Eventim (phone: 0421 35 36 37), in the Glocke itself (phone: 0421 33 66 99), and on January 25, 26 and 29 in the Mensa [refectory] of the University of Bremen.