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East Valley musicians mark orchestra’s 10th year

BY SRIANTHI PERERA

GetOut Contributor

The Pangean Orchestra, which highlights instruments and music from around the world, is celebrating its 10th year with a virtual concert.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to kick off America’s birthday with a celebration of life, liberty, and our pursuit of happiness,” said Colin O’Donohoe, founder and a resident of Chandler.

The concert will be livestreamed at 7 p.m. July 3 via Facebook Live at �b.me/ e/1nGOrik8y.

Although no tickets are being sold, viewers are encouraged and expected to donate what they can afford through the group’s website, thepangeanorchestra.com.

More than 20 musicians, playing world instruments such as Ngoni, Guzheng, Kaval and Santour, will perform alongside symphonic winds, a jazz rhythm section and diverse percussion. Kathak dancing and break dancing will enhance the show.

“It is our largest and best ensemble since our 2010 inaugural performance,” said O’Donohoe. “We have universally suffered through this pandemic, let’s celebrate universally.”

The music spotlights pieces from countries such as Burkina Faso, Burundi, Iran, Turkey, Brazil and Japan.

Some are original while others are traditional pieces that have been arranged speci�ically for the ensemble. They include “Djelika” from Mali, “Ar Erinn Ni Neosfainn Ce Hi” from Ireland and “Bahudaari Jathiswaram” from India.

The Pangean Orchestra, also known earlier as The Immigrant Orchestra, has a mission to unite people and promote world peace with the language of music.

Since its founding in 2010, it has performed in the East Valley, New York and Turkey. Now an of�icial nonpro�it, the group continues to attract talent and volunteers.

O’Donohoe said the forthcoming concert’s theme recognizes that we are “one people.”

“Acknowledge our differences and biases and work through them with the very people you may be wary of,” he said. “When people of diverse backgrounds unite towards a common cause, the results are astounding. We want to be a unifying force.”

Tempe History Museum is Pangean’s unof�icial home venue and has hosted its concerts to full houses since the beginning.

With positive show themes and diverse sets of musicians, curator Dan Miller said it’s a good �it for the community history museum’s performance series.

The July 3 virtual concert will be played at the museum.

“We (staff and our audience) always look forward to seeing and hearing the veterans of the group and the newcomers,” Miller said. “It’s nice to be thought of as a group’s home – they are sort of our house band.”

New Pangean member Wen Wu came from China to Tempe in 2012 for a master’s degree and a doctorate in music at Arizona State University.

Wu didn’t speak any English at the begin-

COLIN O’DONOHOE

ning. Music is a universal language and the Pangean Orchestra is a true example of its universality, she said.

“I had trouble in class, communicating with others, or even just ordering food. But I never had any trouble playing in band,” she said. “Now that my English got better, I �ind that in many situations, I don’t need words to communicate.”

Wu said she’s “not totally surprised” that the Pangean Orchestra has been around for a decade. It uses the simplest way – music – to bring people together, she said.

“It’s diverse, because of the variety of cultural backgrounds. It’s also uniform because we are all using instruments to express feelings.”

Nita Mallya is a Bharatanatyam dancer and a choreographer in Chandler who has worked with Pangean almost since its inception.

She collaborated with O’Donohoe to perform a dance routine in 2011 during the �irst concert.

“It is a pleasure working for someone who is just as passionate about the art; he loves music and I love dance and we come together and work on a common ground and create something beautiful,” she said.

Due to a foot injury, Mallya’s senior dancer, Prarthana Prasad, will perform at this concert.

“The Pangean Orchestra is an amazing team of world music which erases borders, Wen Wu, a new member of The Pangean Orchestra, plays woodwind instruments, including the Chinese Hulusi. (Courtesy of Wen Wu)

color, creed or any political difference. We are artists who love putting our minds together to create something to entertain,” Mallya said.

Wu plays the clarinet and a Chinese wind instrument called the Hulusi.

“It sounds like a person humming to me. Every time I play this instrument, I have this calm, peaceful image in my head, with river, mountain, fog, trees, bamboo raft, egret,” she said, adding “But my Hulusi also has two vents that create harmonies, like an organ.”

As much as the musicians build on the musical components of their work, communicating their unifying message takes precedence.

“The music is nice, but it’s the thoughts as you walk away and ponder that stick with you. If this group can make great music from all different tunings and music systems, why can’t we ‘just all get along?’” Miller said.

O’Donohoe said: “We are living through a time of intensely increasing tribalism. Quarantine accompanied by a fact-optional internet is a deadly mix. Like the continents before us, we are drifting apart from one another.”

“We acknowledge that differences among people are natural,” he continued. “We choose to let those differences enhance our ensemble.”

Details: thepangeanorchestra.com 

Mesa family takes pride in their Mexican eatery

BY MELODY BIRKETT

Tribune Contributor

To call Sol Azteca Mexican Restaurant in Mesa a family affair is an understatement.

Six family members have owned and operated the restaurant near Baseline and Ellsworth in Mesa since July 5, 2018.

“We’ve been in the restaurant industry for a very long time,” said Violeta Cortez, who owns Sol Azteca with her sister Berenice Cortez, brothers Alexander Cortez and Eduardo Cortez, husband Ivan Garrido and sister-in-law Crucita Olmos.

“We just decided to open one ourselves.”

Violeta and her husband used to be general managers for big corporations and her brothers were chefs for various Mexican grill concepts. The name re�lects the family members’ various origins in Mexico.

“’Azteca’ made sense since they’re the indigenous people of Mexico,” Violeta explained. “’Sol’ is basically the sun which is something that shines. So we wanted to stick out as a restaurant that shines.”

Violeta describes the restaurant “as full-service food with a casual dining experience.”

“We wanted to bring good, quality food, fresh ingredients at an affordable price at a speedier way,” she continued.

“We have all kinds of entrees you’d get at a full-service restaurant,” she added.

That includes molcajetito (a heated cast iron bowl �illed with carne asada, chicken, chorizo and cactus) – “which is one of our best sellers – as well as trio enchiladas, Pollo Especial, chile rellenos – “stuff that takes a lot of time to cook and a lot of skill.”

Everything is made in-house.

“Nothing that comes out of a can is ever served in our restaurant,” explained Violeta. “Everything is made fresh from the beans to the �illeted and marinated meat to the rice and all of our sauces. Everything is made in house, fresh, every day.”

While competition is strong among Mexican restaurants, Violeta said, “What sets us apart is the casual dining environment that we provide.”

“We provide good service at the table because it’s half and half…Yes, people do order at the counter but we do bus tables and pick up plates. We’re on top of guest satisfaction.”

Another secret to their success, Violeta said, is “having faith in and loving what we do.”

“We go to work and cook with passion. When you do all of those things, people see it. It shows not only in the service we give but in the food people eat.

“When people notice they’re getting good service at a good value in a good environment and good food with high-quality ingredients, they’re going to come back. They’re going to choose us over others because we care about the food we serve on a plate, about the guest who walks through the door.”

Violeta said the family is grateful for the community support they received during the pandemic –including the locals at Augusta Ranch.

“We can’t thank them enough. They kept us going. They kept our employees going. They kept the jobs going.”

During that time, the owners did not lay off any employees even though Violeta said, “we did hit rock bottom for a couple of months in the beginning of the pandemic.”

She said they kept “employees because they needed a job and didn’t want them to suffer the loss of an income.”

The restaurant does plan to open a second location in the East Valley this year.

Information:solaztecamk.com, 9265 E

Baseline Road, 480-656-9060. 

The sta at Sol Azteca Mexican Restaurant in Mesa includes, from left, Front: Crusita Olmos and Berenice Cortez. Back: Ivan Garrido, Piedad Viveros, Violeta Cortez, Juliana Valenzuela, Joshua Cantrell, Eduardo Cortez, Martin Contreras, Noe Contreras, and Alexander Cortez.

(Special to the Tribune)