A countertenor knocks your socks off, every time. Because you don’t see it coming.

The fellow is moving along in the sweet clarity of a tenor through a lovely piece of music, something about love lost and regret, let’s say. You’re feeling it. Because the singing matches the lyrics and matches the emotions. On the edge of crying, let’s say.

Suddenly the singer veers upward into a celestial aural region that you were in no way expecting – up where the emotions and sensations are usually reserved for the pure of heart. For angels and their earthly equals.

How does a man’s voice reach up there, you wonder, as tears inexplicably stream down the cheeks of grown men who haven’t opened up in decades.

A countertenor does that. A counter tenor’s voice is the keeper of the emotions we never knew we had, the emotions that were locked down so tight we felt they were safe from revelation. It is something in the purity of the range that vibrates our hearts and penetrates our soul’s defenses,  like the high-end fingering of a cello or viola.

Now, imagine an evening like this with Prosecco and ice cream.

And also imagine that the donation you make for this experience will be putting musical instruments into the hands of the children of San Miguel de Allende.

Pretty good deal, am I right?

You know I am.

Here’s the real deal: The internationally acclaimed countertenor Terry Barber will be performing in San Miguel for one night, March 19, for the benefit of ProMusica’s Youth+Music Outreach Programs. The concert at a private home comes as ProMusica winds down a magnificent season of classical music and opera.

Here’s what the Outreach program is all about, according to ProMusica president Michael Pearl: “the ProMusica Youth Orchestra, which gave a splendid performance at last month’s Opera Gala when they performed a program of classical pieces to great acclaim.

“As well as that program, we’ve started a new initiative, our Academy of Music. This is based at the Biblioteca Publica and has been running for nearly a year now. It teaches 8-to-14-year-olds the basics of music with year-round weekly lessons to around 20 talented youngsters learning an instrument such as violin, viola, and flute.”

The lessons are tuition-free and the students use – and this is so important – instruments fitted to their size.

All of this fits beautifully with Barber’s own civic sensitivities. In 2009 he founded the nonprofit organization Artists for a Cause “which creates professional and educational opportunities for visual and performing artists whenever their art is being used for community improvement.”

Barber has performed on some of the world’s prestigious stages including New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, and Avery Fisher Hall; Moscow’s Svetlanov Hall; and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. He’s recorded with pop stars including Chaka Khan, Madonna, and Cyndi Lauper.

While the idea of a countertenor is wedded to classical music, Barber’s material reflects broad and eclectic tastes. He can do whole shows in tribute to Freddie Mercury and Queen, or the music of Andrew Lloyd Weber, and Broadway tunes (that is, whatever is left after Weber).

Naturally, he has a classical repertoire and also a whole show of sacred music. 

He can do it all. Michael Pearl says Barber, who has performed in San Miguel before,  will be doing a bit of everything on March 19.

“At the extravaganza,” says Pearl, “ his repertoire will include arias over a four-octave range from ‘Carmen,’ ‘The Queen of the Night,’ Neapolitan songs such as ‘O Sol O Mio,’ songs from stage shows such as ‘Les Mis’ and the ‘Phantom of the Opera.’  He’ll finish with his spectacular rendition of ‘You’ll Be Back’ from ‘Hamilton.’ “

Patrons will adjourn to the Los Frailes house after the performance for an ice cream social and a chance to talk with Barber. This promises to be a most memorable night among the many memorable nights ProMusica has provided us this year.

Tickets for the Musical Extravaganza are $2,500 pesos each, and can be booked by either clicking on this link or purchasing them through the ProMusica website.