Tulipanes Latino Art & Film Festival

The annual Tulipanes Faith and Worship celebration scheduled for Sunday, September 14 at 3pm in Centennial Park, will be held at an alternate location at the same time due to inclement weather. The rain location is the Holland Armory, located at 16 West Ninth Street in downtown Holland.

Saturday, September 13 • 8pm-Midnight • Holland, Michigan

 The Tulipanes Latino Art and Film Festival and Huntington Bank are pleased to announce the return of the ever-popular "Salsa Night". Organizers were so thrilled with the large turn-out at the 2007 event, that they are happy to announce another evening of celebration! "Salsa Night" will take place on Saturday, September 13, 2008 from 8pm-Midnight.

The Salsa event is being held at the Holland Armory in downtown Holland and will be transformed featuring the sounds of seven-piece salsa band Orquesta Sensacional.

But don't worry, you don't need to know the moves -- a lesson covering the basics of Salsa and Latin dance will be offered before the band takes the stage, thanks to our local well-known dance instructor, Andrea Barry. The salsa lessons will begin at 8pm and live music with Orquesta Sensacional follows starting at 9pm. Dancing will continue until midnight.

Tickets for the Salsa Night are now on sale at the Holland Area Chamber of Commerce, 272 East 8th Street, in downtown Holland. Admission tickets are $10, or day of at the door for $15. Tickets sales will benefit the mission of the Tulipanes Latino Art & Film Festival.

The Tulipanes Latino Art & Film Festival, a 501(3) nonprofit organization, hosts a free, annual festival celebrating Latino culture through music, dance, art and film. The festival takes place September 12-14, 2008 in Downtown Holland.

Tulipanes was founded as a grassroots organization in order to challenge negative stereotypes of Latinos on a local and national level. Organizers strive to promote a positive image of Latino youth, families, senior citizens, and professionals. This goal is achieved through highlighting success stories in a fun, educational setting.

Friday, September 12, 7pm • Knickerbocker Theatre

World-renowned classical guitarist, Alexander Dunn, will perform for the 8th Annual Tulipanes Art & Film Festival in Downtown Holland. Mexican by heritage and Canadian by birth, Alexander Dunn has performed to enthusiastic acclaim in Canada, the USA, Cuba, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil, Southeast Asia, China, South Africa, western and Eastern Europe, and Russia. 

In solo recital, concerto, and chamber music Dunn is consistently praised for his musicality, technique and rich sound. Recent chamber music and recital performances include work with principal players from the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik, in duo with guitarists Pepe Romero, David Tanenbaum, tenor Benjamin Butterfield, and with many other musicians. He has been a featured soloist with the CBC Vancouver Radio Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, La Jolla Symphony, Malaga Sinfonico, San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, New England Symphony, and many major US orchestras as guest artists with Los Romeros.

Mr. Dunn holds a Masters Degree in Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of California, San Diego, where he was a protégé of Pepe Romero; his extensive summer studies were at the Aspen Music Festival and the Salzburg Mozarteum. He is an examiner for the Royal Conservatory Toronto and currently heads what is considered one of Canada's top guitar programs at the University of Victoria and the Victoria Conservatory of Music.

Mr. Dunn's family hails from Guadalajara and he presently resides in British Columbia.

Alexander Dunn will offer a special concert Friday, September 12 at 7pm at the Hope College Knickerbocker Theatre in Downtown Holland, where he will play "Caprichos de Goya" by Castelnuovo-Tedesco. His performance follows the film documentary "Guitar Holiday," where he makes a cameo appearance, and is open and free to the general public. "Guitar Holiday" is a film about a small town in Mexico (Paracho, Michoacan) that has been a guitar-making center of 30,000 people with its name on the map of the international music community. The film shows at the Knickerbocker Theatre on Friday, September 12 at 5:45pm.

Dunn's performance is sponsored by the Hope College.

The eighth annual Tulipanes Latino Art & Film Festival is pleased to welcome back soprano Martha Juliana Ayech Rodriguez at Hope College’s Dimnent Chapel in Downtown Holland, Michigan on Wednesday, September 10, 2008.

Born in Querétaro, Mexico, Rodriguez obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and later also a Bachelor’s degree in Music, as an Opera singer specialist in Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro.

She has studied her skills at the Santa Cecilia’s International Academy, in Rome, Italy under the direction of the soprano Renata Scotto. Collaterally she also studied with tenor Sergio Di Bari. She also was selected by the Verdi Opera Studio to perform Opera “Il Trovatore”, at the Teatro Regio di Parma in Italy, under the conduction of Bruno Cagli. Later she received the “Nicolai Ghiaurov” foundation scholarship to become member of the Centro Universale del Bel Canto in Modena, Italy under the direction of Italian soprano Mirella Freni.

She has been granted first places in important international contests of opera such as “Vincenzo Bellini”, “Sanremo Lirica Classica”, “Città di Roma”, “Premio Selezione Giovanni Professionisti della Mùsica”, “Nicolai Ghiaurov”, among others. She had recently received the “Beato Angélico Award 2006 for women”.

Due to her voice qualities, the Italian critics have qualified her as a beautiful verdiana voice and soprano lirico pieno-spinto. Also the Italian press have commented “Martha Juliana, the Mexican soprano has in her repertoire Operas that require great professional ripeness, managing the extraordinaire energy variations the act needs to express, going from the delicate whisper to a great vocal expression…”(Il Giornale della Musica).

Within her Opera repertoire there are pieces from G. Bizet, U. Giordano, R. Leoncavallo, W. A. Mozart, G. Paisiello, G. Puccini, G. Verdi. 

She has also interpreted a large number of oratory operas written by famous authors like:  W. A. Mozart, F. Schubert, C. Gounod, G. F. Haendel, A. Vivaldi, J. S. Bach, C. Franck, L. Van Beethoven.

Nevertheless, in her presentations she has always given importance to Mexican music performing songs written by: María Grever, Agustín Lara, Macedonio Alcalá, Angel  J. Garrido, Belisario de Jesús García, Alberto Alvarado, Arturo Tolentino, Juventino Rosas, Manuel M. Ponce.

She promoted the foundation of the Bel Canto Group at the Universidad  Autónoma de Querétaro acting as its coordinator until 1999, when she went to Italy.

In May 2000 she was nominated as “The Voice of the Mexican Jubilee”, singing in Nazareth, Jerusalem and Bethlehem (Israel) and also in Rome with an audience of fifty thousand people in San Peter’s square, with the presence of the Pope John Paul II.

On June 29th, 2005 she was granted (in a concert) the distinguished student medal in the Mirella Freni Universal Center of the Bel Canto.

In March 8th 2006, International women’s day, she received the “Beato Angélico Award 2006 for women” in Rome, Italy during a ceremony presided by Functionaries of the Italian Government, Ambassadors of different Countries and Italian Feminine Leaders.

Within her last acclaimed presentations, among others are present, her participation in the "Puccini Festival" with "la Bohéme" in the role of Mimí, and "Tosca" in the role of Floria Tosca, in Italy.

Tickets are $11  for adults and $6  for students and available at the Hope Box Office at DeVos Field House in Holland or by calling 616-395-7890. The performance will take place at Hope College’s Dimnent Chapel in downtown Holland, Michigan. Doors will open at 6:15pm with the performance taking place from 7-8:30pm.

For more information on Tulipanes, visit www.tulipanes.org.

This event is sponsored by the Brooks Family Fund and Jim and Ginger Jurries.

The program: Honoring Puccini’s 150^th Anniversary

1.- Un bel di vedremo…………”Madama Butterfly”

2.- In quelle trine morbide……”Manon Lescaut”

3.- Si, mi chiamano Mimi…….”La Boheme”

4.- O mio Bambino Caro……..”Gianni Schicchi”

5.- Vissi D’arte………………...”Tosca”

                          INTERMEDIO

6.- Júrame………………………María Grever.

7.- Sabor a mi…………………..Alvaro Carrillo.

8.- Te quiero dijiste…………….María Grever.

9.-  Bésame Mucho……………..Consuelo Velásquez.

10.- Solamente una vez…………Agustín Lara.

11.- Granada…………………….Agustín Lara.

The Tulipanes Latino Art & Film Festival in Holland, Michigan is set to conclude its colorful 2007 festival with a creative worship and lively praise event. Centennial Park, located in Downtown Holland, will become the setting for this outdoor ecumenical worship event. The event will be held on Sunday, September 2, from 3-4pm.

The event is bilingual and will be in Spanish and English. The Lord's Prayer will be prayed in both languages simultaneously demonstrating unity in faith.

Leading the Celebration is local Holland pastor Edgar Gomez. Lively music will also be featured. And rounding out the worship will be the El Puente children's choir from Zeeland Christian Schools singing in Spanish followed by the Salvador Dancers from Turning Pointe School of Dance.

In the event of inclement weather, the Holland Armory at 9th Street and Central Avenue will be the rain site.

Worshippers are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for lawn seating. The Tulipanes Cantina will be open with a variety of Latino foods available for purchase.