Mexican Pink: How a Color Transports Us into the World of Two Cathedrals October 3, 2023

In the October 2023 issue of our quarterly newsletter, Creative Media & Marketing Manager Erin Haar highlights how a shade of pink inspired many aspects of CCS’ upcoming concert.

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Weeks ago, I sat down for a Tuesday CCS staff meeting ready to brainstorm with my coworkers about our upcoming concert. Tickets for our season had just officially launched, and I was ready to plug back into my concert marketing routine. 

That’s exactly what I expected – routine – when I brought up our most immediate project, October’s Two Cathedrals concert, celebrating baroque music from the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. I had a checklist in my head that I was ready to fly through for our concert booklet: a welcome letter, text and translations, program notes, advertisements… and I asked for suggestions with a pen in my hand and my eyes in my notebook. 

“What about including Mexican Pink?” 

I looked up. Our Donor & Patron Manager, Gabriela Calderon, glanced inquisitively around the room at the rest of us shaking our heads. We had not heard of Mexican Pink, but we were certainly now intrigued. 

Gabriela began to describe Mexican Pink to us: a shade of pink, slightly warmer than fuchsia or magenta, made famous by artist Ramón Valdiosera as a symbol of the vivacity of Mexican culture. She showed us examples of Mexican Pink in architecture, textiles, and more. And she explained how the color represents the lively spirit woven into multitudes of aspects of Mexican heritage.  

Not only was Mexican Pink an amazing design inspiration for our booklets, but it was also a reminder of why we’re starting our 2023-24 season with this particular concert. Centuries ago in modern-day Mexico, artistic and religious influences brought by Spanish conquistadors collided with the musical traditions of indigenous populations. This created a vivacious and unique musical style that we know today as Mexican baroque, and it is exactly this vivacity that we plan to celebrate and honor through our October 22nd performance. 

Like Mexican Pink, or Rosa Mexicano, we’re aiming to highlight aspects of this musical culture that we don’t normally examine in this concert. And we invite you to join us! 

Wear a little piece of Mexican pink ‘flare’ (or a lot) and bring your own vivacity and spirit to Two Cathedrals. We could not be more excited to celebrate this music with you. 

– Erin Haar, Creative Media & Marketing Manager