Mérida, Yucatán — With the blessing of famed Yucatecan composer Armando Manzanero, whose live concert helped launch Mérida Fest 2015, the state legislative building will be converted into a cultural center honoring the trova.
The building is well situated for a cultural space, being near the Teatro Peón Contreras.
The building will become known as the Armando Manzanero Cultural Center of the Yucatecan Trova. It will feature museum shop, classrooms and a hall with seating for 700 people. The idea is that in the morning it is used mainly by locals and evening entertainment is offered to tourists.
It was also announced that next May an annual National Armando Manzanero Song Contest will begin.
Manzanero, who last Dec. 7 turned 78, praised the project and offered his unconditional support. He explained that his enthusiasm was due to the need to preserve the “soul” of quality Yucatecan music. The concept has been floated for months, with little official word on whether the trova center would become a reality.
The maestro Manzanero supports the idea because, he said, a place is needed where tourists can find everything related to the trova, for example, the discography of great artists.
Armando Manzanero Canché, born in Ticul of Maya descent, is widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful composers of Latin America. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in United States in 2014.
The state government will construct a new building for the legislature along Merida’s ring road, where ground has already been broken. The trova center will inherit a building that was quickly obsolete after construction in 1980.
Source: Diario de Yucatan
