SDSU’s Chamber Choir visited Mexico City for their first international tour in seven years

San Diego State University’s Chamber Choir traveled to Mexico City on an 8-day tour last summer, giving students a valuable opportunity to learn more about choral arts and immerse themselves in the rich history of Mexico City.

Arian Khaefi, the Director of Choirs, met a student from Mexico City in 2019 who ignited his desire to tour with the choir internationally, but the coronavirus pandemic put those plans on hold. Since then, the choir has worked to develop the tour, forming cohorts to design itineraries, plan excursions, and do historical research to prepare for the trip.

“I wanted these students to have a realistic sense of what this country is,” said Khaefi. He hoped students would be able to get a better sense of the culture by meeting “art-makers and music-makers” from Mexico.

“I loved getting to perform at the National Conservatory of Music and hear other choirs from the Mexico City area,” said choir member Catherine Marshall, a graduate student at SDSU. “It was so special to get to know a few of the music students in Mexico City and hear about their individual journeys studying choral music.”

Andrew Vega, a recent graduate of SDSU, submitted the student success fee proposal that provided the choir with the funding to go on the tour, which he said allowed him and other students to “perform, collaborate, and build new connections.”

“This tour was a special accomplishment for me as a student and for SDSU Choirs,” Vega said. “It was the first choir tour since before the COVID-19 pandemic, which really made it feel like various restrictions and barriers are truly behind us.”

In addition to the National Conservatory of Music, the choir also performed with the National University's Choir and sang in a joint concert with Coro Staccato in Anfiteatro Simón Bolívar.

Vega said performing with the National Conservatory was especially important to him because of his familial ties to Mexico.

“At the end of the concert all choirs performed two combined pieces together, which was a special moment of international collaboration and was a leading goal of this tour,” Vega said. “This event was also very special for me personally because a large portion of my family lives in Mexico City and many of them were finally able to see me perform.”

The Chamber Choir’s joint concert was especially memorable for Khaefi, since it was inside a one-of-a-kind venue with a hand-painted mural by Mexican artist Diego Rivera. 

Khaefi admired how Mexico City has many civic spaces for art and choral music, making it unlike Southern California, and said that performing under the mural was an awe-inspiring experience for the choir.

“The students felt a really deep kinship in that moment with everything they had learned and everyone that they had met,” said Khaefi. “All of those experiences came together in that space and created something very powerful.”

The Chamber Choir also went sight-seeing to visit several historical landmarks, such as the house of Frida Kahlo, Chapultepec Castle and the pyramids at Teotihuacán.

Khaefi said Teotihuacán felt otherworldly and was one of his favorites out of all the locations they visited. Marshall shared the sentiment, and said she was blown away by the pyramids and was “grateful for the opportunity to learn so much about the history and culture of Mexico City.”

The choir also visited boys’ and girls’ schools and performed for students, spreading their passion for choral music across borders.

Choir member Jacob Santos said visiting the schools was his favorite part of the trip and that his heart was touched by “the adoration of those kids.”

“On one hand, it was our last performance as a group, so it was bittersweet,” said Santos. “On the other hand, the kids absolutely loved our performance, and they were enamored with us like we were celebrities!”

Khaefi was grateful that the students were able to experience the tour, which he described as “experiential, character-building and joyful.”

More information on the Chamber Choir and SDSU’s additional choirs can be found on their Instagram and the SDSU website.