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YOSA's 'Classic Albums Live' Morphs Into Selena Tribute

courtesy the artist
Isabel Marie Sanchez

Youth Orchestras of San Antonio is known for doing what they call Classic Albums Live, where they re-create popular albums using their orchestra and added musicians. Next Monday night though, Music Director Troy Peters says they're throwing a curve.

“This year we're putting a little twist on that and doing a sort of greatest hits package saluting Selena, on the 25th anniversary of her death,” he said. “We thought it was a really fitting time to dig into that catalogue of songs, and they are just beautiful with orchestra.”

Given that they’re featuring Selena songs Peters knew they would need someone charismatic and capable to sing them, and he thinks he's found a great match.

Credit Sarah Brooke Lyons
Troy Peters

"Our soloist is Isabel Marie Sanchez, who is a rising star in the Tejano pop world. She has her own voice, she has her own style and yet she really understands Selena's music well, and she delivers it with real heart and energy,” Peters said. 

The 16-year-old Sanchez has already recorded three albums and has won multiple awards. She is on track to follow in at least some of the footsteps of Selena. 

“I had a chance to see her with the Houston Symphony last  summer and that's why we booked the show,” Peters said. “We were so impressed with her live performance and thought, 'We're going to bring this to San Antonio and share it with audiences here.’"

In the Classic Albums Live series Peters usually has to score all the music for the YOSA musicians because arrangements for albums they have recreated in the past simply didn’t exist. Not so with this performance.

"One of the great pleasures of this show is that these arrangements are fabulous, and I didn't have to do them,” he said. “Selena’s family worked with the Houston Symphony to put this show together in 2019. I love orchestrating these shows, but it’s really nice to have charts that are ready to go.”  

YOSA will augment their orchestra with base and electric guitars, drums and keyboards to give the Tobin Center performance a more Tejano music sound. 

Jack Morgan can be reached at Jack@TPR.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii.

Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii