La Jornada: Playing in the Revueltas hall, “more than an obstacle, it allows the OSM to get closer to the audience”

That the Mining Symphony Orchestra (OSM) performs its 2026 Summer Season in the Silvestre Revueltas room of the Ollin Yoliztli Cultural Center (CCOY), more than an obstacle, is “an opportunity” to get even closer to the audience, said Carlos Miguel Prieto, its artistic director.

Given the impossibility of using its usual venue this year, the Nezahualcóyotl room of the University Cultural Center, due to improvement works – of which the scoop was given in these pages on April 13 –, the musician assured that the public “follows the group” and not the room.

It is, he stressed, “an opportunity to be close to the public, to make the experience easier and to make each of these concerts a memorable experience.”

In a press conference, the director of the OSM and the president of the Palacio de Minería Music Academy, Luis Antonio Ascencio, detailed a nine-week season that includes eight subscription concerts, a gala and two family presentations, as well as the participation of soloists and conductors of international stature, all with the commitment to maintain affordable prices.

The season began on July 4 and will conclude on August 30, in its new temporary main venue: the Revueltas hall, although they will perform three concerts at the Palacio de Bellas Artes after years of absence.

One of the central points of the meeting with the press were the changes and challenges that this season represents in the face of the forced change. Prieto insisted that the CCOY room, being smaller than the well, will allow greater proximity between the orchestra and the audience.

“I myself will have the opportunity to meet the audience directly, since that room allows for a more direct approach, you can see more of the people,” added the musician, who, however, acknowledged the possibility that this move will alienate part of the usual audience.

“There is no doubt that there are people that we will lose for a year, but we will get them back,” he declared with confidence and accepted that this year’s programming was designed based on the dimensions of the new hall, with works whose instrumental endowment does not exceed the stage.

When asked about the financial impact of this change of venue and its lower capacity, the president of the Palacio de Minería Music Academy highlighted: “we have tried to maintain similar prices.” Tickets at Revueltas offer two sections: A at 800 pesos and B at 600, while at Bellas Artes the prices range from 825 pesos at the lunette to 100 at the gallery, he explained. Subscriptions are also available for the entire cycle.

Ascencio clarified that the OSM does not operate for profit and that this year’s cycle will not generate losses. “All seasons, due to the quality of the soloists and the majesty of the works, are not covered exclusively by the sale of tickets. We always require support from civil society with donations and from some sponsors,” he explained.

He reiterated what he said to this newspaper in April: of the more than 3 million pesos that the use of the Revueltas room will cost, a large percentage has been allocated to waterproofing works, carried out by the same contractor who worked in the room. Well done.

This weekend’s program, the third of the season, includes the Italian whim, de Chaikovski; enigma variations, by Elgar, and wind altar, by the multi-award-winning Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, with the participation of Costa Rican Gian Carlo Guerrero as guest conductor and flutist Alejandro Escuer as soloist.

The concerts are on Saturday and Sunday, at 8 and 12 p.m., respectively, in the Silvestre Revueltas room of the CCOY (Periférico Sur 5141, Isidro Fabela neighborhood). More information about the programs, participating soloists and conductors, as well as other content and activities related to the orchestra, on the site: mineria.org.mx.