México Bello

Manuel Ponce is one of the most important composers from Latin America and arguably the first one in the continent to synthesize European, Mexican folk music, and other elements into an original musical idiom. Manuel María Ponce Cuéllar was born in the mining town of Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico on 8 December 1882. Fresnillo was only a temporary residence for the family, and two months later the Ponce Cuéllar returned back to their original small village of Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes. They were a large Catholic family of twelve children of whom Manuel was the youngest. His father was a bookkeeper who earned a modest living; his mother was a homemaker with an appreciation for music; neither of them had any formal music education but encouraged their children, according to the customs of the times, to study piano.

Ponce’s first piano lessons came from the family’s fourth eldest child, his sister Josefina, and the precocity of little Manuel manifested when at age five: while afflicted with smallpox, he composed his first piano piece, “La danza del sarampión” (“The Dance of the Smallpox”) (ca. 1887). At age ten Ponce joined the local church choir and at sixteen was already its principal organist.

He lived in Aguascalientes for the first eighteen years of his life, during peaceful times under the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, until he moved to Mexico City in 1900 to expand his musical knowledge. This first attempt at higher education disillusioned Ponce but also encouraged him to look overseas: in 1904, after selling his piano, touring for money, and under some sponsorship of his older brother (the priest Antonio), he moved to Europe and studied in Italy and Germany. At the Liceo Musicale of Bologna he studied harmony, counterpoint, fugue, and orchestration under Cesare Dall’Olio, Luigi Torchi, and Enrico Bossi; and at the Stern’sches Konservatorium der Musik in Berlin he studied piano under Martin Krause (who was a pupil of Franz Liszt).

After two years abroad Ponce returned to Aguascalientes in December of 1906 only to move to Mexico City again in 1908, this time to be a professor at the Conservatory. A few years later, after the premiere of his Concierto romántico for piano and orchestra in 1912, Ponce became the most important musician in Mexico. In 1915, however, the circumstances of the Mexican Revolution forced him to move to Cuba, where he stayed for two years, returning to Mexico City in June 1917.

Ponce would live in Mexico City for the next two years until May 1925, when he moved to Paris, at age 42, to study with Paul Dukas and Nadia Boulanger. He remained in France for eight years until his return to Mexico in February 1933. Ponce stayed in Mexico for the last fifteen years of his life until his death from uremia on 24 April 1948. He is buried in the Rotunda of Illustrious Persons at the Dolores Civil Cemetery of Mexico City.

Biography from the Ponce Project.

Jesus Daniel Hernández was born and raised in Juarez, Mexico, and moved to the United States as a teenager. He enlisted in the US Army, and soon after, volunteered to serve in a Chemical Unit being deployed to Iraq. A chance encounter with Plácido Domingo in San Antonio, about ten years ago changed his life. After a concert given by Maestro Domingo, Specialist Hernández asked if he could sing for the great tenor to see what the Maestro thought of his voice. Upon hearing the young soldier sing, Maestro Domingo invited the tenor to join the prestigious Plácido Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program with the Washington National Opera. He moved to Washington, DC to pursue his boyhood dream of being a professional singer.

While a participant in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, Jesus performed with the Washington National Opera in the productions of Lucrezia Borgia, La Traviata, Falstaff (WNO Look-In), and in Hamlet (A. Thomas). Other roles have included il Duca di Mantova (Rigoletto), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Camille (Merry Widow), Alfredo (La Traviata), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Turiddu (Cavalleria Rusticana), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), and performances in numerous Zarzuelas. His experience includes concert performances for NEA Opera Honors ceremonies, the Horatio Awards at the United States Supreme Court, and numerous concerts in Europe. His album L’orologio can be found on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon.

Omar Herrera Arizmendi was born in Mexico City and grew up in Cuernavaca, Morelos where he played numerous recitals and concerts during his teenage years. Omar holds a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from UT Austin and a Master's degree from Rice University. He has been the recipient of the highest scholarship given by the Mexican government (FONCA) and of numerous other fellowships including the one given by the Center for Mexican American Studies of the University of Houston. In 2012 he was awarded a Doctorate in Music from the University of Houston with a thesis titled "Style and Aesthetics of Manuel M. Ponce." Dr. Herrera Arizmendi has given seminars in his native Mexico about Piano Technique and Music Interpretation and began his teaching career as faculty of the Preparatory Program at Rice University from 2000 to 2004.

Throughout his performance career he has played with several orchestras in the United States and Mexico and with chamber groups of the caliber of Cuarteto Latinoamericano. Dr. Herrera was the Pianist in Residence for MECA in Houston for several years and as such he performed multiple concerts including live performances on NPR. He is the Founder and President of the Ponce Project Foundation, whose mission is to promote "the rich and exceptional classical music heritage of Latin America." Omar is the great-great-son of Manuel M. Ponce—one of Latin America's most important composers, and is currently recording his complete works for piano and for voice and piano. Omar Herrera Arizmendi is a Shigeru Kawai Artist.

New Orchestra of Washington (NOW) is a one-of-a-kind ensemble. A small chamber orchestra with flexible instrumentation, NOW elevates every member to their highest potential as an individual virtuoso and as an ensemble player, creating a unique and engaging live performance experience for its audience. Reimagining what have been the limited definitions of “classical music,” NOW welcomes audiences into an experience that lessens the distance between our identities and compels listeners to feel something in the sound. NOW believes in the transformative power of music and strives to build a world where transformative musical experiences are accessible to all. Learn more about NOW and our upcoming programs at www.neworchestraofwashington.org.