In the art world, cooperative work is one of the greatest and most important needs for an integral development of artistic manifestations. Although they can be carried out individually, the union of different arts or different organizational bodies indispensable in the management of an event are capable of enhancing the characteristics of a presentation. If a resource is at hand, it would be unwise not to use it knowing that it will bring benefits to the artist and to the general public.

Querido Arte is a Guatemalan opera company founded more than a decade ago by tenor Mario Chang and soprano María José Morales. This company was founded with the purpose of developing, training and disseminating opera in Guatemala. It is currently the company that presents the most operas in Guatemala with the highest quality in each of its presentations. In addition to their efforts to disseminate art, they work in parallel with an educational area where there are ballet, theater, children’s choir, symphonic choir, women’s choir and orchestra, chamber orchestra, among others.

Antigua Guatemala represents for the national artist a hope in Guatemala. This historic city is the perfect place for the independent artist due to the high affluence of national and foreign tourists. The high number of tourists in the city causes a phenomenon that intensifies the appreciation of art, not only for the excellent performance of the various artists, but for the experience in conjunction with the art, architecture and history of the city. Antigua Guatemala will always be a source of opportunities for the artist, it is like a home where their performance in art is valued and its various manifestations are supported to promote it in all its splendor.

Querido Arte and Antigua Viva have formally decided to establish cultural ties to form a perfectly organized symbiosis. Both institutions work for the dissemination of art in Guatemala from different positions in the cultural sphere. The main purpose of this union is to work in the process of developing an art industry and turning it into a strong industry. Both parties observed a weak panorama in terms of artistic presentations and their valuation and decided to create an optimal environment for the development of the Guatemalan artist and, consequently, of the art industry in Guatemala.

Antigua Viva will function as an entity that gives visibility to artists, both soloists and groups of different disciplines, providing public spaces for presentations and directing cultural events where the different groups can be integrated. This effort will provide an opportunity for the artist to be known and make his art known, but it will also provide an opportunity for tourists to enjoy a cultural activity during their visit to the colonial city. For its part, Querido Arte will continue to work hard to develop its artists specialized in music, dance and theater in order to provide high quality artistic presentations in terms of talent and organization.

Currently, Querido Arte is in a process of academic preparation to participate internationally in a high performance program called Premier Orchestral Institute where they will be able to live and exchange knowledge with the Mississippi Symphony. In order to achieve this much appreciated goal, the Master Camerata of Querido Arte, has made a series of concerts called “Journey” in Guatemala and Antigua Guatemala to be able to travel to the United States, where in addition to representing Guatemala in the academic aspect, they will also have the opportunity to perform a presentation with Guatemalan musical repertoire.

Let us never forget that the artist is not only a musician who performs in front of hundreds of people, but is the representation of culture, respect and virtues that are involved in the essence of art and that represent the artistic environment of the country to which they belong. It is their duty to continually strive to improve their technique and, as a final product, to preserve and promote artistic manifestations in order to subsequently create new proposals that nurture the artistic and cultural atmosphere that surrounds the country. Art is capable of making every corner of a country bloom, of the minds and hearts of many people, promoting art is not only the work of the artist, but of us as Guatemalans as well. Making art known is one of the most beautiful gestures of love towards human beings.