Misa Mestiza Homenaje – World Premiere by the Coro Polifónico Nacional and the Orquesta Nacional de Música Argentina
Coro Polifónico Nacional to Offer a Tribute Concert for Pope Francis
The Coro Polifónico Nacional, accompanied by the Orquesta Nacional de Música Argentina “Juan de Dios Filiberto,” will present a special concert at the National Auditorium of the Palacio Libertad (Buenos Aires, Argentina) in homage to His Holiness Pope Francis.
The performances are scheduled for November 28 and 29, 2025, at 8:00 PM.
Program
Georgina Perazzo
Ubi caritas
Carlos Guastavino
Despedida, cantata for choir and baritone
(manuscript transcription: Guillermo Gutkin)
Soloist: Felipe Carelli, baritone
Hugo Figueras – Bernardo Latini – Oscar Allorio
Misa Mestiza Homenaje (World Premiere)
Soloists: Clara Pinto, soprano; Elisa Giraldo Gärtner, alto; Martín Caltabiano, bass; Esteban Garreta, tenor
Admission is free.
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About the Misa Mestiza Homenaje
Music by Hugo Figueras, Bernardo Latini, and Oscar Allorio
The Misa Mestiza was born in 2014 to celebrate the election of the first Latin American Pope. It was originally conceived for the youth orchestras of the Programa Provincial de Orquestas-Escuela—now Programa de Coros y Orquestas—of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was later adapted for professional ensembles.
The work reflects the richness and cultural synthesis that characterize Latin America. It is a symphonic-choral creation that brings together the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church—in Greek and Spanish—the sonorities of the European Middle Ages and Classicism, alongside the Indigenous, Creole, and Afro-American musical traditions that form the basis of the region’s rich folklore.
The Misa Mestiza proposes a musical journey from Europe to Latin America, full of colors and soundscapes: from Gregorian chant, the motet, and European hymns to a palette of popular Latin American rhythms, including the habanera, Peruvian festejo, chacarera, triunfo, and chaya from Argentina, vals criollo, huayno from the Altiplano, Bolivian caporal, Uruguayan candombe, Venezuelan tonada llanera, Brazilian bossa nova, and Caribbean son.
From America, the Misa Mestiza invites the world to sing for peace and fraternity among peoples, following the universal message that Francis laid out in his encyclicals.
In 2025, following the passing of Pope Francis and to mark the tenth anniversary of its premiere, the composers incorporated a new movement: number VII, titled “Legacy” (“Legado”).
This final piece, written as a tribute, brings together in its text and music the essence of the Pontiff’s thought, inspired by fragments of the encyclical Laudato si’. It invites us to reflect on fraternity, the care of our common home, hope, and peace—values that guided his pontificate and continue to illuminate the spirit of the Misa Mestiza.