A promising pianist from Ajijic is among four young Mexican musicians who will receive financial aid from VIVA la Musica to enhance their careers.
Rodrigo Leal, 16, was the most impressive of the 11 candidates who auditioned for scholarships on August 20, said VIVA President Rosemary Keeling.
Leal sings with the Los Cantantes choir and plays the violin in the Centro Regional Educativo de Musica (CREM) orchestra. His offering for the audition was a complex piano piece by Mozart. He played with great panache and manual dexterity but lacked maturity and feeling, Keeling said.
The committee characterized him as a “baby Mozart” with great potential but in need of advanced piano lessons. VIVA will pay for those lessons.Another recipient is Daniel Arturo Medeles, 22, of Ajijic, who plays the viola and studies at the University of Guadalajara. He interpreted a Handel sonata with great musicality, using the beautiful round tones of the instrument to their fullest. He will receive a scholarship of 10,000 pesos towards his studies. Several individuals have volunteered to donate funds specifically to raise the amount of the scholarship.
Third on the list was Juan Pablo Medeles, 15, from Ajijic, recognized by the adjudication committee as a gifted and confident violinist. VIVA will contribute 6,000 pesos for the repair of his violin.
In fourth pace was Guadalajara resident Diana Laguna, 22, who received previous funding from VIVA to help with the purchase of a professional violin. She played a Fritz Kreisler piece with confidence and poise. VIVA will give her 10,000 pesos towards master classes in the United States or Canada next year.
Other candidates who performed in the auditions were Roberto Pastrama (saxophone), Azael Medeles (piano), Moises Arevalo (piano and bass guitar), Eduardo Munoz-Zuniga (baritone), Jose Luis Escobedo (flute), Arturo Lora (bass voice) and Luis Jasso (piano).
The adjudication committee said they found it difficult to select only a few from the hard-working candidates. They would have liked to have assisted more of them but VIVA funds are limited because most of the scholarship budget was already committed to renewing scholarship recipients from prior years.
VIVA has already renewed scholarships totaling 40,000 pesos for four continuing recipients. They are Manuel Castillo, Emmanuel Medeles, Areli Medeles and Francisco Bedoy.
Besides the 36,000 pesos committed to this year’s scholarship recipients and the 40,000 pesos for continuing recipients, VIVA will donate 18,000 pesos to the Centro Regional Educativo de Musica (CREM) faculty.
For more information about VIVA la Musica visit www.ajijicviva.org.