buenos Aires to Host Premiere of Choral-Symphonic Work Honoring Pope Francis
BUENOS AIRES – A new choral-symphonic work, the Mixed Mass, will have its definitive premiere this Friday and Saturday, November 28 and 29, at 8 p.m. at the National Auditorium of the Palacio Libertad. Admission to the event, organized by the National Directorate of Stable Casts of the Ministry of Culture of the Presidency of the Nation, is free.
The performance will feature the National Polyphonic Choir and the Argentine National Music Orchestra “Juan de Dios Filiberto,” conducted by Fernando Tomé. the Mixed Mass, composed in 2014 by Hugo Figueras, Bernardo Latini, and Oscar Allorio, uniquely blends Gregorian chant with Latin American rhythms including chacarera, candombe, huayno, and bossa nova. the premiere will include the debut of the movement Legacy, inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’, and emphasizing themes of brotherhood and hope.
Soloists Clara Pinto (soprano), Elisa Giraldo Gärtner (alto), Esteban Garreta (tenor), Martin Caltabiano (bass), Felipe Carelli (baritone), and Claudio Santoro (piano) will also participate.
The concert program will additionally showcase Georgina Perazzo’s motet Where charity and Carlos Guastavino’s cantata Farewell for baritone, choir, and piano, transcribed by Guillermo Gutkin.
the tribute arrives with poignant resonance, acknowledging the recent passing of Pope Francis, a lifelong devotee of classical and choral music. Born in Buenos Aires’ flores neighborhood in 1936, the Pope articulated the power of choral music as a metaphor for unity, stating at the International Meeting of Choirs in the Vatican in 2024: “choral singing is performed together, not alone.And this also tells us about the Church and the world in wich we live. Our walk together can be represented as the performance of a great concert, in which each one participates with his or her own abilities and offers his or her own contribution.”
