1994-1995 BSPA Season Program

An Evening of Enchanting Music

November 11, 1994

Lopez High School

The first event sponsored by the Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts, and a prime example of the quality of what was destined to follow. The event featured an opera quartet comprised of Liliana Gomez-Arzapalo (Soprano), Jorge Aguilar (Tenor), Luis Giron May (Baritone), and Consuelo Medinilla on piano. In a three-part program, patrons heard renditions of the world’s most famous operas, operettas and traditional song.

Strunz & Farah

Saturday, March 11, 1995

Jacob Brown Auditorium

Marking the first of several noted appearances in Brownsville, the guitar duo of Jorge Strunz, from Costa Rica, and Iranian-born Ardeshir Farah brilliantly display their “exotic brew of Spanish and middle-Eastern guitar melodies with powerful Latin rhythms.” Not merely a two-man show, the Strunz and Farah concert was the first large-scale production in BSPA history. It was truly world-class entertainment. Eye of the Artist, a contemporary, New Age, pop-rock duo consisting of pianist/keyboardist Rudy Ruiz and drummer/percussionist Al de Lachica also performed.

St. Petersburg String Quartet:
"From Russia With Music"

Friday, June 23, 1995

St. Luke Catholic Church

Marking the first of what would be two appearances to Brownsville, the St. Petersburg String Quartet performed to near perfection for a captivated audience. The Quartet, comprised of Alla Aranovskaya (1st Viola), Ilya Teplyakov (2nd Violin), Konstantin Kats (Violin), and Leonid Shukaev (cello), masterfully moved from Haydn to Borodin to Mozart, from Classic to Romantic to Modern, lifting and moving the audience though each note to each piece and every mood.
The St. Petersburg Conservatory dates back to 1862, when the Imperial Society founded it to be a school dedicated to the education of top musical talent. Throughout the years, through changes in the Russian state, inner and outer turmoil, it has stayed true to that consistency, turning our some of the finest Russian composers and artists.

Texas Boy's Choir

Friday, November 17, 1995

St. Luke Catholic Church

Once referred to as “the best boys choir in the world” by Igor Stravinsky, the Texas Boy’s Choir has compiled over thirty-five recordings (two of which have won Grammy Awards), countless television appearances on all major networks, and appearances virtually all over the world. Wallace Hornady, the artistic director, has continued their legacy of excellence.
As has always been the case with BSPA, our local talent was displayed by Robert Martin, a young prodigy who performed a special presentation. It was an inspiring example of talent that is all around our community.

A Christmas Gift of Music

Sunday, December 17, 1995

Jacob Brown Auditorium

This event (billed also as a “special Christmas Program” and a “Musical Christmas Party” in some advertisements) was a joint venture of both the BSPA and the Brownsville Independent School District to collect food for the poor. Admission, in fact, was just that: a canned or packaged food item. This event featured the Community Band, a band originally formed in the early 1980’s and one that grown in membership from nine to sixty. The musical group is comprised of teachers, community members, Winter Texans, and high-school students, all of which were directed by Allen Clark. The Hanna Chorale with the Eagle Singers and the Estudiantina de Oro (directed by Dennis Pitcock and Maria Aurora Arrese, respectively) also performed.