Tenor and alumnus Edgar Ricaud (BM ’15) recently recorded his debut album, “El Recuerdo,” a collection of Mexican pop songs and mariachi music, honoring the Mexican musical heritage that defined his youth in Sonora, Mexico … with a little bit of opera.
“I think it’s a part of my artistic (journey) to share with people who hear me. I think I can also transport these emotions to the repertoire that I will be singing for the operas,” Ricaud told the Arizona Daily Star. “I feel that music is music. If you sing really simple tunes, it doesn’t matter. If you tell a story, I think that’s what we try to show in our opera performance. Tell a story instead of just singing, and that’s what I was trying to do with this album.”
“This is music that in a certain point of my life really had a meaning. But I’m bringing also the new style of singing and technique with the opera … together.”
“Piel Canela” is the first single from the debut album. The video is directed by Nolan Veneklasen with assistant director, Grant Webb, both School of Theatre, Film & Television alumni.
Ricaud was born in Nogales, Arizona, and grew up in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. He met his wife, Angela Barraza — who stars in the video — at a Mexican Independence Day celebration while they both attended the University.