"Harp in Tradition" - Concert by Celso Duarte

The Consulate General of Mexico, Centro Cultural Mexicano Paso del Norte, and The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) presented at UTEP Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall, the concert “Harp in Tradition” by Mexican virtuoso harpist Celso Duarte. Celso Duarte Maestro Duarte inherited a musical tradition full of cultural richness from his Mexican mother and Paraguayan father, which combines several techniques and styles that have led him to become a versatile and experienced artist. A professional violinist by training, Duarte studied at Vida y Movimiento School of the Ollin Yoliztli Cultural Organization in Mexico City and later moved on to the National School of Music. As a soloist, Duarte has performed, along with his ensemble, at some of the most renowned festivals in Mexico and around the world. In Mexico, he has been featured at the International Festival “La Nao” in Acapulco, Guerrero; Festival “Puerta de las Américas” in Mexico City; Festival Internacional Chihuahua, in Chihuahua, Chihuahua; the World Music Festival Tamoanchán in Cuernavaca, Morelos; the Feria de San Marcos in Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes; and the Feria Internacional de la Música in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Outside of Mexico, he has participated in the Primer Festival Internacional de Son Jarocho Afro-Mex in Washington DC; Celebrate Mexico Now! in New York City; Festival Internacional Ollin Khan based in Mexico and Portugal; the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa; Rec Festival - Beat in Recife, Brazil; and the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, California; among others. Some of the highlights of his career include the following performances and special participations: In 2003, he was a guest artist at the show "Jarocho" directed by Riverdance in Mexico; in 2007, he was invited by the artistic director of the Washington Ballet to join the performance "Noche Latina", at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC; in the same year , he performed in the concert series “Sounds of LA”, hosted by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where he launched his first album "South to South", which pays tribute to the Mexican Jarocho music, cultural roots and to wide musical mosaic of Latin America; in 2014 he was called to join the Orchestra for the XXIV Ibero American Summit in Veracruz, Mexico, which brought together 16 presidents and prime ministers from 22 countries. Throughout his career, Celso Duarte has collaborated with Placido Domingo, Ramon Vargas, the Big Band of Radio and Television of Berlin, Winton Marsallis, Mercedes Sosa, The Chieftains and Ry Cooder, Carlos Saura, Celso Piña, Eugenia Leon, Illya Kuriaki and Lila Downs, with whom he has performed since 1998 playing the harp, violin, guitar, jarana and charango in live performances and in 9 studio albums. Aside from his career as a perfomer, he is also a composer and musical arranger. Duarte has recorded soundtracks for films and television in Mexico, Europe and the United States that include: "María llena eres de Gracia" (2004), along with singer Julieta Venegas, nominated for an Academy Award; "Fados", by the Portuguese director Carlos Saura (2006); "Arráncame la vida" (2008) by Mexican director Roberto Sneider; "Mariachi Gringo", by the American director Tom Gustafson; and "Un día de suerte", short film by the Mexican Director Guillermo Rios and published by the National Council for Culture and the Arts of Mexico (CONACULTA by its acronym in Spanish).