This is a new version of the renowned Regional Young Soloists Competition, which will bring together on stage its two brand new winners and the Chilean director who is triumphing in Switzerland, Luis Toro Araya.

In the company of two great promises of music, the Universidad de La Serena Symphony Orchestra is preparing to inaugurate the month of November with a colossal presentation of the 2018 Season. The symphonic evening will come hand in hand with the long-awaited and successful Regional Young Soloists Competition, which will be directed by another talented promise, the national guest director, Luis Toro Araya.

The maestro born in San Vicente (1995) already has a vast musical career; At the age of 7 he began his violin studies with teachers Eladio Romo and Julio Zapata, and then perfected himself at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Chile and, later, at the Modern School of Music. Between 2014 and 2017 he was part of the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile. He also performed as a soloist on different stages in Chile and Argentina. Currently, Luis Hernán Toro is adding projects conducting orchestras such as the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim, ZHdK Orchester, Alumni Orchester Zürich, Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra, Nürnberger Symphoniker, and the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz.

After an ambitious 2017/2018 season on the European continent, the Chilean conductor returns to his country to debut for the first time in the city of La Serena, where he will conduct the VIII Season Concert of the professional orchestra. “I am very eager to start rehearsals. In May I had the opportunity to conduct the Classical Orchestra of the University of Santiago de Chile (Usach), which was my debut in Chile, so I greatly value having the possibility of conducting again in my country,” he expressed.

During this musical event, the maestro who is currently studying at the University of the Arts in Zürich, Switzerland, will also share the stage with the brand new winners of the V Regional Young Soloists Competition. In his opinion, this is “a wonderful initiative to meet new young musical talents. Without a doubt, it will also be a great experience for the winners, since being able to participate as a soloist represents a great challenge, both technically and musically. Personally, I am very happy to be able to share experiences with younger musicians, just as many colleagues have done with me and supported me during my career,” he commented.

Music, youth and talent

For this new version, the call made by the Universidad de La Serena Symphony Orchestra resulted in two brilliant winners from the regional capital: Joaquín Gómez Cerda (guitar), 1st place in the school category, and José Díaz Araya (xylophone), 1st place in the university category, who seek to dazzle the audience of the Municipal Theater of La Serena with their attractive repertoire.

For Joaquín Gómez Cerda, a 2nd year student at the Jorge Peña Hen Experimental School of Music and who will present the 'Concert in D Major for guitar and orchestra' by the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi, he explained that it is “a quite changing work, it consists of three movements that are easily distinguished from each other and each one evokes a different emotion when listening to it.” Likewise, the guitarist said that “this is the first time that I have participated in the Young Soloists Contest and the truth is that I am very excited to have an experience like this. I put a lot of effort into this application and the fact that this has borne fruit makes me quite happy and is a great source of pride for me (…). As for the concert, there will be extensive preparation, but always with the joy of enjoying something as beautiful as music,” he explained.

For his part, percussionist José Díaz Araya confesses that his objective as a soloist is to teach the facets of the xylophone: “it is a very versatile instrument, because you can play from popular music, through folklore, to learned music. Furthermore, I want the percussion to stand out, demonstrating that the xylophone can also stand out from an orchestra and become a solo instrument and not just an accompanist. “That is my main motivation,” said the young contestant. Regarding the piece that he chose to present in the contest, Díaz Araya related that “the 'Xylophone Concerto' by the Japanese composer Toshiro Mayuzumi was the first orchestral work for solo xylophone that made the instrument known with popular works. The public is going to find a very incidental type of music with a very oriental style.”

Finally, the young conductor referred to the programming of this VIII Season Concert, commenting that the two works with soloists make a very interesting contrast: “on the one hand, the famous guitar concerto, a piece that very well mixes the motifs of the dances of the time with much more lyrical and calm passages; and on the other hand, the xylophone concerto, a work full of rhythm and energy, with great technical demands for the soloist. To complete the program we will have two works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Overture to the Opera 'Don Giovanni' and the Symphony No. 36 'Linz', pieces full of the most diverse affections,” explained guest conductor Luis Toro Araya.

Those who wish to be part of this unmissable concert with the winners of the Regional Young Soloists Competition, next Friday, November 9, at 20:00 p.m., at the Municipal Theater of La Serena, 170 invitations for free withdrawal have been available. : general public and older adults can go to the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage Coquimbo Region (Colón #848), La Serena Public Library (Colón #495, corner Balmaceda), Gabriela Mistral Regional Library (Juan José Latorre # 782) and/or Municipal Theater of La Serena (Benavente #580). While school students and students from the University of La Serena may pick up their invitation at the Extension Office of the ULS Music Department (Larraín Alcalde s/n, between Los Jardines and Seminario). Those who are unable to withdraw their invitation will be able to purchase tickets at the municipal ticket office on the same day of the event, with prices ranging from $3.000 for the general public and $2.000 for seniors, while school students and students from the University of La Serena, presenting your credential.

It should be noted that this presentation has the support and financing of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, through Glosa de Presupuesto Nacional since 2016; the collaboration of the University of La Serena and the Illustrious Municipality of La Serena, through its Department of Culture and the Municipal Theater.

Source: Press Symphony Orchestra University of La Serena

The prominent regional musician is the main guest of the ninth installment of this space, winner of the 2018 National Music Fund. The broadcast will be this Saturday, November 03, starting at 20:00 p.m. on Radio Universitaria 94.5 FM in La Serena and Coquimbo .

Radio Universitaria FM, station of the University of La Serena, will broadcast this week the ninth episode of its program cycle called "Our Sounds: Musical Creators of the Coquimbo Region", dedicated exclusively to the dissemination of regional authors and musicians.

This week's guest will be the musician Orlando Sánchez Placencia, who stands out in his role as a composer and producer in our region.

With 5 albums in his career, his work has been recognized with the 2014 Luis Advis National Composition Award (Folkloric Root) and with a nomination at the 2017 Pulsar Awards as best roots artist and best album of the year, thanks to his latest CD "Very Chilean!"

Sánchez is also an academic at the Department of Music at the University of La Serena and a member of the folklore and psychedelic rock group Los Changos and the Chilean chamber music ensemble Terral del Elqui.  

His music is not limited to any style or genre; However, he shows a marked interest in the use of the musical heritage of the territory that is today Chile, together with modern sounds and experimentation, achieving a work that is avant-garde and at the same time with a territorial character.  

Accompanied by musician friends from jazz, the symphonic world and folklore, they perform in various instrumental formats, exploring and developing proposals where the transposed guitar, the Chilean guitarrón, diaguita aerophones, local rhythms, electronic effects, symphonic instruments coexist naturally, vernacular, improvisation and instruments of their own invention and construction.

Their concerts are a stimulating, educational, exciting, entertaining and unmissable experience for all audiences.

In addition to his authorial work, Orlando is actively involved in different creative teams in the performing and audiovisual arts, composing original music for his works.

“Our Sounds” is a project promoted by the Department of Corporate Communications of the ULS, which was the winner of the 2018 National Music Fund, Chilean Music Radio Broadcasting line.

The invitation is to tune in to this ninth episode, which will be broadcast this Saturday, November 03, starting at 20:00 p.m., through the 94.5 frequency of Radio Universitaria FM for La Serena and Coquimbo and on its online signal available at www. .userena.cl.

Registration will be open until November 8 on the site extension.userena.cl.

As part of the activities of the Arts, Cultures and Heritage Network of the Network of State Universities of Chile, the first Pedagogical Theater Meeting will be held at the University of La Serena, on November 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 16:30 p.m.: XNUMX hrs. On this occasion, different experts on the subject will meet to share knowledge with teachers and professionals from the regional and national educational community.

This activity seeks to value the cultural heritage of the State Universities through the incorporation of pedagogical theater, providing pedagogical tools to implement in the classroom, show new perspectives to incorporate theater into their pedagogical practices and seeking to modify the paradigms regarding static education in the classroom.

This meeting is led by the State Universities and is aimed at directors, monitors, university professors and basic and secondary educational establishments, as well as pedagogy students and/or actors who make up various theater groups and who use this tool as a didactic or pedagogical instrument.

The activity will take place in the Aula Magna of the University of La Serena, located at Benavente Street N° 980, La Serena, and registration will only be until November 8 on the site extension.userena.cl.

More information at extension.userena.cl, where the SCHEDULE of the activity, details of the exhibitions and hotel and transfer information. Email is also available This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and telephone numbers 51 2 204389 – 51 2 204171.

Source: DIVEULS press

The course was custom designed, according to your own needs, by the Training Office of the University of La Serena.

42 teachers from the Santa Familia School in Coquimbo completed a training that will allow them to put into practice the new approach to teaching entitled “Universal Design of Learning and its Applicability in the Classroom.” The activity was taught by professionals Alejandra Galleguillos and Karla Rivera, members of the Disability Support Program of the University of La Serena.

Universal Design for Learning (UDA) is a teaching-learning approach that was born as a response to diversity, considering that all students, regardless of their personal characteristics, must have the same opportunities to learn, proposing a paradigm shift regarding the right that each individual has to participate and progress in school, minimizing the barriers to learning that exist in traditional curricula.

For the director of the school, Oscar Vilches, “this is a wish from both the supporters and the teachers, fundamentally to see the DUA method as a contribution to our institution, a product that everything new, the learning, in some way helps us. "They lead to better results in our daily educational work."

For his part, for Juan Yutronic, school administrator, this is a positive activity for the establishment. “Everything that involves training seems extraordinarily good to me, from what both the managers who attended the course and some teachers said (…). The course gave the expected results and fulfilled the objective that was dreamed of,” he indicated.  

Finally, Pablo Sánchez, in charge of the Training Office at the University of La Serena, highlighted how the course originated and the school's response in relation to that need: “I think it is a source of pride for the entire institution to have that cohesion and the ability to listen to their teachers and give them tools for the best development of their activities.”

This was a closed course and taught to the entire teaching staff of the establishment, which allowed the contents and examples of the topic to be adjusted to the reality of the school.

For more information about the OTEC ULS, contact phone number 2204172, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or in Amunátegui 890, La Serena.

Source: DIVEULS press

This activity from the “Psychology and Contemporary Society” cycle invites you to a space for conversation and discussion on the topic, in a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere.

“Minorities, active metaminorities and social change” is the title of the conference that will be held next Wednesday, October 31, at 11:30 a.m., as part of the “Psychology and Contemporary Society” cycle organized jointly by the Directorate of Liaison with the Medium and Extension and the Department of Psychology of the University of La Serena.  

On this occasion, the academic Mg. Francisco Donoso will delve into the innovative role not only of “active minorities” (Moscovici), but also that played by the configuration of minorities within minorities, what he has called “active metaminorities.” In the words of the academic, the activity will address “how is it possible that, in various contexts, many social, political and cultural changes have been initiated and led by persecuted, discriminated minorities, lacking power, prestige and resources?”

The presentation of this research, which is the result of its FONDECYT Regular 1121026 project, will take place in the Exhibition Hall of the University of La Serena, located at Benavente 950, La Serena.

For more information, go to the ULS Extension Center, Calle Los Carrera 207, La Serena, call 2204171 or write to the email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Source: DIVEULS press

The cycle of programs is financed by the Social Media Promotion Fund of the Government of Chile and the Regional Council.

This Sunday, October 28, at noon, Radio Universitaria FM will broadcast the fourth and final chapter of the program: “Sixto Cortés Alcayaga, a figure of folklore in our University and the Coquimbo Region”, a cycle that highlights the legacy of the person who was director of the Folkloric Ensemble of the University of La Serena and founder of the Tuna San Bartolomé.

This cycle of programs is part of a project financed by the Social Media Promotion Fund of the Government of Chile and the Regional Council, and is led by the teacher and musician, Raúl “Talo” Pinto.

“Sixto Cortés Alcayaga, a figure of folklore” is broadcast on 94.5 FM in La Serena and Coquimbo, and its online signal: http://www.userena.cl/index.php/comunicaciones/radio-universitaria.

Project financed by the Social Media Promotion Fund of the Government of Chile and the Regional Council.