Fernando de la Mora will sing in favor of children with leukemia

The tenor Fernando de la Mora will lead the gala concert “Homage to the great Mexican composers” for the benefit of leukemia patients in alliance with Fundación Comparte Vida, with which he has been raising funds for 18 years to allocate them as a priority to caring for children and adolescents facing this cancer in Mexico.

In an interview with this newspaper, the tenor announced that the gala will have guests of international stature who will share the stage of the Sala Nezahualcóyotl with him on January 20, 2023 with the Eduardo Mata University Youth Orchestra, under the baton of maestro Gustavo Rivero Weber .

“It will be a great concert to review good Mexican music and emblematic arias from the international repertoire, and we want to summon a lot of people to fill the room and contribute to a good cause,” said the singer.

Although he reserved for the moment the names of those who will accompany him that night, he recalled that in previous years he had the solidarity of artists such as Armando Manzanero, Emmanuel, Alexander Acha, Cecilia Toussaint, Susana Zavaleta, among others, and that “this year will not be The exeption”.

Like Luciano Pavarotti, undoubtedly one of the greatest voices in history, Fernando de la Mora made his international debut in 1988 at the San Francisco Opera playing Rodolfo in La bohème, alternating precisely with the tenor from Modena, who he had risen to fame in 1961 with that same role.

De la Mora tells how was that relationship he had with Pavarotti when he replaced him in La bohème, in San Francisco: “He was a very dedicated man, an extraordinary human being, very professional (…) He asked me to sing the scene and to go around the stage so that he could set his role and know where he had to go, and then make observations (…) that helped me to have more confidence on stage”, he shares.

De la Mora accumulates almost two decades emulating Pavarotti in that other trait that characterized the Italian, in addition to his voice, his generosity and the strategy of allying with pop singers to contribute to social causes.

“I ask those who can buy the most expensive tickets, do not see it as a luxury or just as an expensive ticket, but as the opportunity to contribute to saving a life, especially a life that begins as that of a child. (…) Imagine the impotence of a mother before her son and not being able to save him because she does not have money for a transplant (…) let’s fill the Neza, we need 3 million pesos that will make a difference”, called the tenor.

According to Globocan, leukemia is among the ten cancers with the highest prevalence and mortality in Mexico. Only in 2020, 6,955 new cases were diagnosed in the country and 4,786 people died from leukemia. Another fact is that of the new cases of this disease that are registered each year in Mexico, 50% affect children under 18 years of age.

The best directors

The famous Indian conductor Zubin Metha is another of the intersections that De la Mora shares with Luciano Pavarotti in his musical itinerary. Both were once directed under his baton.

When asked about the Mexican conductors he admires and who have conducted him, he says the list is long, “in Mexico we have great orchestra conductors” and lists some such as Natanael Espinoza, Rodrigo Macías, Enrique Patrón de Rueda, Enrique Diemecke , Enrique Bátiz, José Guadalupe Flores, among others.

On January 20, Fernando de la Mora will take the stage with Gustavo Rivero Weber, principal conductor of the UNAM University Youth Orchestra, “a great pianist, I am his friend and I am his admirer”, says the tenor, adding “ he directs an orchestra that plays better than many professionals, it will be an honor and a pleasure to fill the cathedral of music with him”, he concludes optimistically.

Concert Tribute to the great Mexican composers

Fernando de la Mora and guest artists

With the Eduardo Mata University Youth Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Rivero Weber

Friday, January 20, 2023, 6:30 p.m.

Nezahualcoyotl Room. University Cultural Center

Ticket cost: between 400 and 2,500 pesos.

Available on Ticketmaster and Fundación Comparte Vida, AC www.fundacioncompartevida.org.mx

francisco.deanda@eleconomista.mx