Nathalie Peña-Comas has on the program one of the most significant initiatives of her career. The Dominican soprano is preparing the celebration of a great concert in honor of the Virgin of Altagracia at the Vatican at the end of November, to which the highest governmental authorities and the Dominican Catholic Church have also been invited.
“The presence of our authorities would be very opportune to personally extend a formal invitation to his Holiness Pope Francis to visit the Dominican Republic next year, to the closing of the Altagracia Jubilee Year,” Peña Comas commented to Listín Diario. He then asked: “Can you imagine his Holiness in the country?
The repertoire will be based on a religious repertoire, which includes pieces from her album “Alta Gracia”, nominated in 2017 to the Latin Grammy Awards and which made the singer the first Dominican to be mentioned in the Classical category of these awards.
“This is a contribution that we wanted to make as a member of the National Organizing Commission to the series of celebrations in this Altagraciano Jubilee Year,” the artist commented.
+ A video
Peña-Comas’ Marian proposal continues to bear fruit. A week ago she launched on her Youtube channel a version of the classic “Ave Maria”, by Italian composer Giulio Caccini (1551-1618).
The video clip was recorded in the cities of Rome and the Vatican and shows the temples where the image of Our Lady of Altagracia is found: the Basilica San Giovanni dei Fiorentini and the Church San Marcello al Corso.
In these churches a large part of the Dominican community residing in the Italian capital congregates to honor our Mother Mary in her advocation of La Altagracia.
“With this video clip we wanted to pay honor to our Mother Protector and Spiritual, from the most significant scenario and headquarters of the Catholic Church: Vatican City to kick off the Altagracia Jubilee Year that celebrates the First Centenary of her Canonical Coronation. To place our gifts at the service of such an important celebration honors us and fills us with great emotion,” said Peña-Comas.
In addition, he added, the projection of the image of Our Lady of Altagracia from these relevant scenarios “generates an international interest among the Catholic faithful and Marian devotion, uniting hundreds of thousands of people around the world and triggering the opening of religious tourism in the Dominican Republic”.
+ Contributors
The video was directed by Martin Ruiz Rueda and the arrangements of the song “Ave Maria” are by Eddy Diaz with the Bratislava Festival Orchestra and Choir, under the musical direction of Pablo Boggiano.
“Ave Maria” is the first artistic project that brings together Ruiz Rueda, an Argentine conductor based in Vienna, his team and the soprano.
The audiovisual, which tells the story of a Marian believer and devotee who goes through the streets of Rome towards her encounter with the Virgin of Altagracia, was co-produced by the Embassy of the Dominican Republic to the Holy See and counted with the collaboration of His Eminence Most Reverend Mauro Cardinal Gambetti, President Fabrica di San Pietro (St. Peter’s) at the Vatican, as well as several members of the Dominican community in Rome.
Her agenda.
Nathalie has been active since the beginning of the year. In the Dominican Republic she presented “Concierto de Año Nuevo” (New Year’s Concert), transmitted by the 4RD channel and CERTV to the whole country. Then she traveled to Austria and Spain, with a concert in Vienna with the Spirituosi Ensemble at the Children’s Singers Theater and later at the International Tourism Fair in Madrid (FITUR) with her sisters Evelyn and Nicole, flutist and cellist respectively.
He also starred for seven nights in operetta galas at the Kittsee Summer Festival in Austria.
Last July her most recent album “Entre Cantos y Danzas” was released, which gathers works by renowned authors of academic music from Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, recorded in Austria, and which corresponds to the first album she has recorded with her sisters.
Next November she will sing in the final concert of the Symphonic Season at the Eduardo Brito National Theater, conducted by Maestro José Antonio Molina.
