There are a lot of events going on this weekend. Here's an overview on a few of them. First off tonight--It's St. Patrick's.
"We're having a special St. Patrick's Day event that will celebrate Irish and Mexican cultural connections in our community," says Elaine Bretschneider on behalf of Brick at Blue Star. From 6-9 p.m. they'll present a history of the St. Patrick's battalion.
"[It's] a fascinating and little-known piece of history that's part of the Mexican-American war of Irish conscripts in the U.S. Army who ended up defecting and fighting for the Mexicans," Bretschneider explains.
From 9 to midnight, enjoy music from quirky Mike y Los San Patricios.
Then on Saturday and Sunday, Azul Barrientos singing at the Esperanza--something they're calling Dos Gardenias.
"We are very excited about this program," Barrientos says. "It's a tribute to Cuban music that has made history. A bit of history, a bit of the story, and a lot of music."
Ms. Barrientos gives backstory and context to the music by taking snippets from documentaries.
"Those pieces kind of form the story that is being told around with the music."
She also has some help to tell that musical story.
"Yes, we have the Prados--George Prado, Dr. Aaron Prado, Nina Rodriguez, and we have also Eric Casillas."
That's Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Then Sunday, hit the road to Fredericksburg for something quite unusual. Billy Traylor is with the Austin Baroque Orchestra.
"We're going to be doing Bach's 'St. John Passion,' which is of course, one of the greatest pieces ever written and it's one of the cornerstones of the baroque choral repertoire."
Austin Baroque Orchestra plays their music on reproduction Baroque-era instruments. And in this case, their singers are singing it as Bach wrote it.
"I can't think of a more German place to do it than Fredericksburg, which is appropriate because the entire thing is in German!" Traylor says.
That's at 4 p.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Fredericksburg.
Find more on the St. Patrick's Day Celebration here.
Find more on the Esperanza's Dos Gardenias event here.
Find more on Austin Baroque's Fredericksburg event here.
