Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - 2017 has hardly started and already it's in the air... yes, an event celebrating Spring! And what better way than to break out in romantic ballads and arias all befitting this delightful season.

Stepping up to the moment once again, La Biblioteca Los Mangos is excited to stage a Spring Opera Evening Benefit under the generous sponsorship of the grand Sheraton Buganvilias at the Violeta/Tulipan Halls on Thursday, March 9 at 7:30 pm with vocal solos, duets from renowned classical opera works and beloved Latin ballads all complemented with a sprinkle of beautiful piano solos here and there in the program!

No Metropolitan Opera shows simulcast on the screen here, this is a real live treat like no other! This celebratory opera event proudly features three dedicated and talented Mexican musicians:

• Visiting from Sonora, charismatic soprano Yael del Carmen Jimenez Valdez graduated with a Bachelor degree in Arts (Music and Classical Singing), a Theatre Diploma and is a member of the notable "Coro de la Orquestra Sinfónica del Estado de Mexico." She has been since performing to much acclaim not only nationally, but also in Spain and Austria with her characteristic vibrant, expressive singing, wide tessitura range and warm timbre. In 2015, after auditioning for a Master's Degree in Music Performance, dedicated Yael was accepted in Vienna's prestigious Richard Wagner Conservatory while taking more specialized lessons with a private teacher, Sylvia Saavedra-Edelmann, in preparation towards further concerts as a soloist in Vienna, Austria.

• Tenor Jose Maria Aguirre Curiel with a rich, strong vocal quality, is from our very musical Puerto Vallarta. Talent driven, Jose Maria has developed a wide and eclectic range of musical styles from operas, ballads, jazz etc...

• Pianist Hector Acosta, too, comes with an impressive array of achievements. He began his musical studies at the House of Culture in Hermosillo, taking piano lessons, and in the Juvenile Orchestra of Sonora as a violinist. He completed his undergraduate studies in Piano at the University of Arizona, with master Nicholas Zumbro and masters as accompanying pianist, with teachers Paula Fan and Rex Woods at the same institution, where he was vocal coach and musical director of the 'Scenes' program in 2006-2007. Mr. Acosta also collaborated with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Sonora as a guest musician, on countless occasions participating in international festivals like that at the Saranac Lake Piano Institute in Saranac Lake, New York; the Aeterna Music in Brussels, Belgium; the Festival of the Amalfi Coast in Vietri sul Mare, Italy (twice); Artescenica in Saltillo, Coahuila; Ars Vocalis in Zamora, Michoacán; the 8th. International Festival of Theater Cabaret in Mexico City; Las Fiestas of Pitic in Hermosillo, Sonora; and the Festival Alfonso Ortiz Tirado in Alamos, Sonora. On several occasions, he has also been invited as a pianist of the International Song Contest of Sinaloa, directed by maestro Enrique Patrón de Rueda. Hector was director of choirs and pianist on the production of the opera La Mulata de Córdoba by José Pablo Moncayo that had its world premiere in Sonora under the direction of the teacher Gordon Campbell. In January 2011, he was also the artistic and musical director in staging the opera Don Gil de Alcalá by Manuel Penella and for the University of Sonora in May 2011. Currently, he is a full time teacher of the Bachelor of Arts, Music option, at the University of Sonora.

For the evening's program then, here's a sampling of some the famous works from a host of opera gems:

• Les Filles de Cadix by Leo Delibes
• Caro nome from 'Rigoletto' by G. Verdi
• Gretchen am Spinnrade from Goethe's 'Faust' by Franz Schubert
• Quando men vo and O mio babbino caro, from 'La Boheme' by G. Puccini
• Libbiamos/ Brindis from 'La Traviata' by G. Verdi

...tempered by such Latin favorites as:

• Estrellita by Manuel M. Ponce
• Por ti volare - Francesco Sartori / Lúcio Quarantotto
• Jurame and Alma mía - Maria Grever
• Capullito de aleli - Rafael Hernandez
• Besame mucho - Consuelito Velázquez

...and even:

• I Feel Pretty - L. Bernstein
• Think of Me - Andrew. L. Webber
• Summertime - G.Gershwin

...with such beloved piano pieces from Manuel de Falla and Manuel Maria Ponce!

With this fine and varied array of music to enthrall the most discerning and sophisticated, let's be sure to mark down this Benefit Spring Opera Evening for Thursday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m at the Sheraton Buganvilias. And remember, you are also supporting the BLM, our only library in its continuous commitment towards promoting the essential and excellence in literacy, art and culture in Vallarta while encouraging such local and national classical musicians of caliber in their demanding career as they continue to enrich the quality of our sun blessed lives here in Puerto Vallarta.

Please note that a Cash Bar in the concert hall lobby will be open from 6:30 pm for your thirst-quenching cocktails, and also during the 20 minute Intermission. The Hotel also offers their delicious dinners at any of their relaxing restaurants with a sweet discount on presenting your ticket to the Maitre D' before or after the show.

Tickets cost $380 pesos in advance or $450 pesos at the door and are available at La Biblioteca Los Mangos, Av. Francisco Villa 1001, Col Versalles, Tel: (322) 224-9966; or Cassandra Shaw Jewelry, 276 Basilio Badillo on PV's south side, Tel: (322) 223-9734.

To enjoy some distinct and enriching culture, promote a worthy cause in town and have tons of fun at the same time... doesn't that add up to a win/win for all?

See you all then at the Sheraton's concert hall!