Consuelo Velázquez Torres: The Timeless Melodies of a Musical Icon
Image Courtesy: Google Doodle
Consuelo Velázquez Torres (21 August 1916 – 22 January 2005), also widely known as Consuelo Velázquez, was a talented Mexican concert pianist and composer. She gained recognition for composing renowned Mexican ballads, including “Bésame mucho,” “Amar y vivir,” and “Cachito.”
Life and Career
Originally hailing from Ciudad Guzmán, Mexico, she was the youngest of five daughters born to Isaac Velázquez de Valle, a soldier and poet, and his wife, María de Jesús Torres Ortíz. At the young age of four, she displayed a keen ear and a natural affinity for music. By the age of six, she had commenced her music education and piano studies at the Academia de Música Serratos in Guadalajara. At the age of eleven, she moved to Mexico City after several years of study, where she continued her musical education and successfully earned a degree in music education and concert piano from the National Conservatory of Music. She made her inaugural public performance at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in the capital, subsequently embarking on a career as a composer of popular music. As a concert pianist, she stood as a soloist with Mexico’s National Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
After a notable career beginning, Velázquez entered into marriage with Mariano Rivera Conde, a media proprietor and advocate for artists (he passed away in 1977). The couple welcomed two sons, Mariano and Sergio Rivera Velázquez. In the period spanning 1979 to 1982, she served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies within the Congress of the Union, marking her singular involvement in her country’s political sphere. In 1989, she received the National Prize for Science and Arts in the category of Popular Art and Traditions, a recognition of her significant contributions.
On 21 August 2012, a Google Doodle was created to celebrate Consuelo Velazquez’s 96th Birthday.
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