Book Fair Will Offer a Full Program of Events and Performances

Book Fair Will Offer a Full Program of Events and Performances
República Dominicana, Santo Domingo, 27/04/2011

Christian songs, pop, rock, jazz, merengue, son, percussion, classical ballet, lyric singers, choral groups, young dancers and soloists, street theater and musicals all form part of the full program of artistic performances and presentations on offer this year at the International Book Fair.

The Ministry of Culture has organized a program that includes everything from classical music to the most popular street theater and art available free of charge to everyone…

A long list of the most wide-ranging artistic expression will make up one of the most spectacular, varied and intense programs ever organized as part of the annual International Book Fair of Santo Domingo.
 
The Ministry of Culture has organized a program that includes everything from classical music to the most popular street theater and art available free of charge to everyone who attends the 18-day XIV International Book Fair of Santo Domingo which opens on May 4th and runs until May 22nd.

Shows and performances will be going on daily at the Luisito Martí Theater-Arena and the Carlos Piantini Hall of the Eduardo Brito National Theater. Shows can be seen morning, afternoon and night.

The Popular Dance Theater, under the direction of Nereyda Rodríguez, will begin the program on Thursday May 5th at 6:00 pm with “Colors of Quisqueya” followed by singer Kelman Ventura, with his urban pop music. Ventura, who will perform at 8:30 pm, was the winner of the Seeking Success (Buscando el Éxito) program in 2009.

On Friday, the Dominican Wind Orchestra, under the direction of Andrés Vidal, will perform at 6:30. At 8:30 pm, well-known singer Xiomara Fortuna will offer a performance of her show “Paseando.” This same night, Friday, at 8:00 pm there will be a concert given by the famous Mexican Catholic musician and songwriter, Martín Valverde. He will perform in the Carlos Piantini Hall of the Eduardo Brito National Theater.

The National Folklore Ballet, directed by Josefina Miniño, will perform “Creole Passion” (Pasión Criolla), on Saturday May 7th at 7:00 pm. At 8:30 pm, Darío Estrella and his orchestra will pay homage to the late, great Dominican sax player Tavito Vásquez.

Also on Saturday May 7th , the play “Don Bosco” will be performed twice, at 5:00 and again at 8 pm.

On Sunday, the 8th, the Belcanto group, creators of their own musical style of lyrical song, will perform at 6:30 and 8:30 pm. Also, Catholic songster, Martín Valverde, will return to the stage but this time at the Luisito Martí Theater-Arena. At 8:00 pm, there will be a Gala Concert in honor of Papal delegate, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi. The concert will feature the Primada de América Cathedral Choral group and the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Professor José Delmonte Peguero. The concert will take place in the Carlos Piantini Hall of the National Theater.

The Shalenau Ensemble of the National Conservatory of Music will perform on Monday May 9th at 6:00 pm where they will play Latin American and Brazilian music. At 8:00 pm, “Esencia” of the Ministerio 4×7, a Christian group that mixes it up with pop, funk, rock and tropical  fusion, will give a concert.

The Chamber group of the Elila Mena Elementary School of Music kicks off the program on Tuesday the 10th at 6:00 in the evening followed at 7:00 pm by the Youth Symphony Orchestra and the National Company of Lyrical Singers. The Jazz Christ group will play at 8:30 pm. This same night, at 8:00 pm, there will also be a concert in the Carlos Piantini Hall of the National Theater featuring the Chantily Wind Quintet. The quintet is comprised of musicians from Germany, Russia, Hungary and Finland whose members belong to the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Berlin Concert House.

Wednesday, the 11th at 4:00 pm marks the beginning of the special programming of artistic groups from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. This event will be held at the Carlos Piantini Hall. At 6:30 pm the National Choral group, under the direction of José Enrique Espín, will offer a concert followed by a performance of “Testimonio” with Ronald Romero, one of the most promising Catholic singers in the contemporary religious music genre.

Catholic pop singer, Celinés Días, will open the program on Thursday the 12th at 6:00 pm with “”Canto para ti” (I sing for you), followed by “La Cuadra,” a new artistic concept created to take a musical genre like bachata and enrich it with new harmonic textures. The Cuadra brings together three well-known musical talents: Pavel Núñez as songwriter, Héctor Aníbal as vocalist and, on guitar and arrangements, Alexis de Peña. This musical treat will begin at 8:00 pm.

Friday and Saturday (May 13,14), the dates of the traditional Book Fair celebration, feature the Youth Dance Festival directed by Edmundo Poy. 
The dance groups, with their diverse performances and talent, will be competing for major prizes over the course of these two days. Catch the shows at 4:00 and 8:30 pm.

The Radio Schools of Radio Santa María is sponsoring a concert on Sunday May 15th at 11:00 am featuring singers Omar Franco and Jacqueline Estévez.  Later in the day, from 5:00 to 9 pm, the Youth Pastoral will offer a special program.

At 8:00 pm, also on Sunday in the Carlos Piantini Hall, the Choral Society of Santiago will give a concert, under the direction of Father César Hilario.

“Bachata Joven” with Joel Santos will open the program on Monday the 16th at 6:00 pm followed by singer José Marmolejos with his “Cara o Cruz” production at 8:00 pm.

The popular Christian group, Alfareros, will perform on Tuesday the 17th at 6:30 pm followed at 8:30 by the popular singer-songwriter, Janio Lora.

The Tamo Akí Orchestra, with its repertory of tropical and contemporary music, will give a concert on the 18th at 6:30 pm. At 8:30 the popular son
band, Grupo Maniel, will perform.

Rafaelito Mirabal’s well-known orchestra, Sistema Temperado, opens the program on on Thursday May 19th at 6:30 pm. The day’s entertainment will come to a close with a debut concert by the young singer, Genji Endo, at 8:30 pm.

On Friday the 20th, the play “Resurrección” sponsored by Banco Popular, will be performed in the Carlos Piantini Hall at 10:00 am and again at 8:00 pm. In the Luisito Martí Theater-Arena, the action gets underway at 6:00 pm with Danza Fusión, from Korea followed at 7 pm by a presentation by the National School of Dance (ENDANZA in Spanish) under the direction of dance teacher Ninoska Velásquez. To wrap things up starting at 8:00 pm, the Núcleo Extremo Dance Center will perform the musical “Freeze.”

The show “Sed,” featuring the new contemporary dance company of the National Ballet directed by Marianela Boán, begins on Saturday May 21st at 7 pm. Then, closing the show, the National Ballet will perform “Los colores de la Danza” (The Colors of Dance) under the direction of dance teacher Marinella Sallent.

Finally, on Sunday May 22nd, the last day of the Book Fair, the closing event will be a presentation by Fernando Echavarría and the André Family, who will perform their 30th anniversary concert.

Coordinator of the entertainment program, Ana Teresa Gómez, said, “For the first time ever, the Book Fair is providing the largest and most varied program of shows and performances than any institution has ever organized in the country, prioritizing new and different areas of art and entertainment.”

She added that, “It is the only time all year that people, without the distinction of social class, can enjoy such a relevant artistic program absolutely free of charge, thanks to the open and pluralistic cultural policy promoted by the Ministry of Culture.”

The XIV International Book Fair of Santo Domingo 2011 will take place from May 4-22 in the Juan Pablo Duarte Culture Plaza. The Holy See is this year’s Guest of Honor. The Fair will be dedicated to Monsignor  Francisco J. Arnaiz and Father José Luis Sáez in commemoration of the 500-year anniversary of the constitution of the Dioceses of Santo Domingo and La Vega.

Martín Valverde, Catholic Singer from Mexico.


Alfareros Group, Dominican Catholic musical group.


Pavel Núñez.