The Arizona Symphony Orchestra will play a unique program titled “”A Mexican Celebration”” this Saturday, consisting entirely of music by Mexican composers at a time when Mexico celebrates the bicentennial of its independence and its revolution’s centennial.

Conductors David Dunbar, Keitaro Harada and Jackson Warren will lead the Arizona Symphony Orchestra in a selection of Mexican works including “”Sensemayá”” by Silvestre Revueltas, “”Homenaje a Copland”” by Humberto Hernández-Medrano, “”Sinfonía India”” by Carlos Chávez, “”Sones de Mariachi”” by Blas Galindo, “”Huapango”” by José Pablo Moncayo and “”Danzón 2″” by Arturo Márquez.

“”People are going to listen to something they’re not used to,”” Fernando Zuniga Chanto, a student at the UA School of Music pursuing a doctorate in bassoon.  

Chanto said that the piece by Blas Galindo, “”Sones de Mariachi,”” translates classic mariachi tunes into a symphony score.

“”That’s going to be very exotic for an audience here,”” Zuniga Chanto said.

Along with the UA Symphony’s first concert of the academic year, attendees can attend a pre-concert performance by UA’s Mariachi Arizona and hear mariachi tunes in their original venue.

Director of Orchestral Activities Thomas Cockrell has high hopes for this concert. “”Although border tensions grab the headlines, the arts build bridges and nurture understanding between cultures,”” Cockrell said.