September 4, 2019
Las Vegas, N.M. – New Mexico Highlands University music professor and tenor vocalist Andre García-Nuthmann will be a featured soloist in the “Zarzuela at the Plaza Ballroom” concert Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.
The Highlands department of music and the New Mexico Performing Arts Society (NMPAS) are co-sponsoring the Zarzuela concert. Franz Vote, artistic director for the NMPAS, is also the artistic director and pianist for the Zarzuela concert.
“This program features songs from Mexico and Spain for the first half, and the second half depicts scenes from famous Zarzuelas, which are Spanish operas,” said García-Nuthmann, who is a member of the New Mexico Performing Arts Society. “The music is gorgeous.”
Other vocal soloists for the concert include Jacqueline Zander-Wall, a mezz0-soprano, Jennifer Perez, a soprano, and Carlos Archuleta, a baritone. All are members of the New Mexico Performing Arts Society.
“Carlos is an HU music alumnus who made quite a music career in New York and Washington, D.C. singing for Placido Domingo and now works at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Jennifer Perez sang in our ‘Narcissus and Echo’ opera premiere last fall at Highlands and earned a master’s degree in music with a concentration in vocal performance from the University of New Mexico. Jacqueline Zander-Wall is new to Las Vegas and is a highly acclaimed mezzo-soprano from Albuquerque. I am deeply honored to be sharing the same stage with such prestigious and talented singers,” García-Nuthmann said.
Linda Marianiello is the narrator for the concert.
García-Nuthmann directs the vocal and choral program in the Highlands department of music. He is a longtime member of the New Mexico Bach Society Chorale, which is part of the New Mexico Performing Arts Society. He has performed three times as a vocal soloist at the world-renowned Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria.
García-Nuthman said the Zarzuela concert is very close to his heart.
“I used to be a music director and pianist for a Zarzuela company in Albuquerque in the early 1980s. I learned to love the music from day one. There is a very colorful history of Zarzuela that dates back to 17th century Spain,” García-Nuthmann said.
General admission advance tickets are $15 and are available through the Highlands University department of music by calling 505-454-3359. Tickets at the door are $20.
The Historic Plaza Hotel is located on the Historic Las Vegas Plaza in Las Vegas.