Ten years ago, a group of ladies decided that San Carlos needed some cultural stimulation. And PAC was born! (The Performing Arts Council of San Carlos, a Committee of Club Deportivo).
The first event was on March 16, 2001, “The Sons of Orpheus” Men’s Choir performed at The Country Club. We weren’t sure how this type of music would be received, so the small group of Board Members and volunteers made appetizers for people to enjoy with their drinks from the open bar as an added incentive to attend.
Every year we enjoyed 4 or 5 wonderful, well-attended events. And just last year, for a number of reasons, we took a break.
There were a lot of international and very different performances over the years, most of which were arranged by our Artistic Director for the first 10 years, Barbara Schofield. We had the Irish maSamba drummers, AZ Jazz, the Catalina Chamber Orchestra, a Night on Broadway, Folkloric Ballet, the Arizona Boys Chorus, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Sonora, Christmas Music and Negro Spirituals, the 9 harpists, pianists, violonists, guitarists, etc…and last but not least, the annual San Carlos Talent Show featuring local talent!
We have tried to keep our ticket prices reasonable, around $10 US equivalent per person; and always considered the very act of bringing the concerts to San Carlos as the principal reason for our existence. Our agreement as to what to do with any extra funds was to help music students. Over the years, we have provided musical instruments to the Casa de la Cultura, we have facilitated students’ trips to music seminars and at this time, PAC sponsors a Casa de la Cultura music student, Luis Felipe Navarro, in his schooling through Castaway Kids’ Adelante Estudiante program.
In the past 11 years, our little community has seen a number of changes. One of the most noticeable for us was the availability of live music at so many venues in our beach town. When PAC began, San Carlos had very few live music shows to attend. We have used a number of different venues from outdoor locations like the pool at the Country Club and Marinaterra to the Community Church. However, the San Carlos Plaza was always our favorite, with its stage and its expandable size for our larger events.
We are so delighted that the San Carlos Plaza has reached out to welcome us back to its Stage room. They have a new Events Manager and he is ready to welcome San Carlos folks back with open arms AND Discounts! PAC’s first concert of the 2011-2012 season is the return of one of our highest rated performances, the very popular Lorena Robles, with her sister Marcela Ro, to be backed up by Oscar Mayoral and Grupo Stretto from Hermosillo.
We hope you’ll help us spread the word, bring some friends. and come to the Sunday afternoon concert on December 11 at 4:00pm. The hotel is offering a 15% discount for ticket-holders to eat at Joey Bistro, so come and make an afternoon and evening of it. Tickets are $150 pesos per person and you can buy them at your favorite real estate office, at Barracuda Bob’s or in front of the bank the week prior to the event.
We hope to bring you other exciting performances in the months and years to come. We already have confirmed a great group for a concert on February 12, 2012 — stay tuned!
