By Timothy Pratt

Wed, Mar 12, 2008 (2 a.m.)

COURTESY UNLV

Enrique Batiz, conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico

It’s obvious that Enrique Batiz, conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, has thought about where he comes from and how he is seen.

He has led more than 500 orchestras around the world, participated in 145 recordings and earned awards and stunning reviews in major world capitals.

But something always pulls him back to his Mexico lindo, with more than 30 years leading the orchestra he brings to Las Vegas tonight.

Most members of the media talk to him about music.

But when asked, he speaks forcefully about what it means to be one of the most highly regarded Latin American conductors at a time when Hispanics are often linked to the controversy surrounding immigration.

The Sun caught up with the 65-year-old conductor for a brief phone conversation hours before a concert in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Batiz brings the orchestra to UNLV’s Artemus Ham Hall tonight with a program that is half from the European tradition and half Hispanic, including a work by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. Mexican guitarist Alfonso Moreno joins the orchestra for J. Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez.”

Las Vegas is the 41st stop on a 48-city tour, the longest string of concerts Batiz can remember taking part in.

Tell us about your choice of music for tonight’s concert.

The culture of Mexico is universal; it transcends walls and crosses frontiers and is millenary. It’s a compendium of Spanish and indigenous blood, and the 20th century produced prodigious composers such as Revueltas and Carlos Chavez.

Most people in the United States don’t know about all that.

People in 40 cities now do. They’ve received us with the dignity we deserve and given us standing ovations.

So do you see yourself as educating the American public?

More than educating them, it’s seeing their surprise when they hear an orchestra playing the way we do. Mexico is a country they don’t think is capable of this.

Why do you think this is the case?

When people in the United States hear “Mexican,” they think of someone who’s looking for a job somewhere. It’s a misunderstanding, a prejudice. But prejudices can be eliminated with culture. We’re not less than anyone and can play the European traditions better than or the same as anyone. And the Mexican or Spanish traditions, we can play better than anyone, because they’re ours. Everywhere we go, people love our music and they bring Mexican flags and shout, “Viva Mexico!”

Does that make you proud?

It makes me happy.