Luis Herrera de la Fuente
Mexican composer, conductor and author Luis Herrera de la Fuente, 'the dean of Mexican music' was born in Mexico City on 25 April 1916. He had written his first composition for piano by the age of nine. He studied piano with Santos Carlos, violin with Luis G Saloma, singing with David Silva, composition with Rodolfo Halffter and conducting with Sergiu Celibidache and Hermann Scherchen.
He conducted Mexico's Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional for eighteen years, was conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería and also worked with other orchestras such as the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra. His research into folk and colonial music is stored at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, and he was involved in the creation of various musical institutions.
Herrera de la Fuente retired from conducting at the age of ninety to concentrate on composition. He completed his second symphony and also wrote three books. He died on 5 December 2014, aged ninety-eight.