Inma Shara was the first woman to conduct a concert at the Vatican. It was in 2008 with audience members including Pope Benedict XVI, who was a big fan of classical music.
The concert had been organized on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
POPE BENEDICT XVI
The dignity of every human being is truly guaranteed only when all his fundamental rights are recognized, protected and promoted. The Church has always reaffirmed that fundamental rights, regardless of the different formulation and weight they may have in different cultures, are a universal reality, because they are inherent in the very nature of man.
Shara has also worked in cinema alongside musicians like Anton Coppola, the director of the music for the movies Titanic and Jurassic Park. But she points out that it was this concert at the Vatican that was a turning point in her faith. It made her understand that her career represented more than professional success.
Pope St. John Paul II's letter to artists also encouraged her to link the bond between faith and her work.
INMA SHARA
Spanish orchestra conductor
Both offer so much beauty, both paths, so much inner harmony and so much tranquility that they inevitably belong in my life.
I have been fortunate that the two paths have come together. When I had the pleasure, the honor and the privilege of conducting at the Vatican.
Shara has worked with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic. One of her most recent concerts was in the Arabian Peninsula, in a cultural initiative to build bridges between Spain and the United Arab Emirates.
PA/JRB
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