Christian Vásquez conducts the Medellin Philharmonic Orchestra next Saturday, September 4, at the Metropolitan Theater of this Colombian city. The program includes Mussorgsky’s Intermezzo in modo classico, Mozart’s Clarinet concerto with Felipe Jiménez, and Bizet’s Symphony in C. The concert is part of a four-week residence within the selection process for a principal conductor that the orchestra is currently carrying out. Throughout this month-long residence, Christian Vásquez will conduct four concerts of different character and varied programs.
The next concert will take place on Friday 10 September at the Parroquia de San Juan Apóstol in Medellin with ensembles from the various sections of the Medellin Philharmonic—strings, wood, brass and percussion—. Vásquez will conduct works by Donizetti, Gounod, Wagner, Copland, Jorge Humberto Pinzón or Pacho Flores.
©Takafumi Ueno
The following week, on Friday, September 17, Christian will conduct a popular program at the Theater of the University of Medellin as part of the social and community activities of the Philharmonic, which will include some of the most popular soundtracks of the last years by composers such as John Williams, Henry Mancini, Hans Zimmer, Lalo Schifrin, Howard Shore, Monty Norman or Ramin Djawadi. Christian’s residence will finish on Sunday, September 26 with an educational concert that aims to take the audience on a journey from Spain to various Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina and finally Colombia, through works by Ruperto Chapí, Gerónimo Giménez, Rafael Hernández, Pérez Prado, Miguel Matamoros, Alberto Nepomuceno, Antonio Estévez, Lucho Bermúdez or Miguel Ángel Martín.
Christian Vásquez is Music Director of the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, which he led on an important tour around Europe that took them to perform in London, Lisbon, Toulouse, Munich, Stockholm and Istanbul. Vásquez has also been Principal Conductor of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest in The Netherlands and the Gävle Symphony Orchestra in Sweden.