Music is for the soul what gymnastics is for the body. This statement of Plato still resonates today. And, according to some recent scientific studies, singing, playing or listening to music has a very positive impact on mental health, generating similar effects for our body to those that a bike ride can produce.
The power of any melody should not be underestimated, therefore. Zapata Tenor knows this well, who, in addition to singing in theaters around the world – from the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York – has developed a new professional side as a motivational speaker. He has also written Music for Life. From Bach to Radiohead (Planeta), where, precisely, he talks about how music is something essential in the life of each of us and that it can be a tool that changes us and fills us with confidence, empathy and, in Definitely, happiness.
Zapata Tenor's new adventure, the video podcast series “POZCARS” by ZAPATA TENOR, is along this same line. The trip begins on a typical cool autumn morning in Granada, his hometown, with a firm purpose: to travel kilometers and kilometers in his vehicle to bring us closer to his two professions and passions: music and the values that unite us.
On this journey, the international opera singer and motivational speaker – one of the most sought-after today, by the way – will not be alone. Throughout the journey he will invite different protagonists who will accompany him on this path.
The first stop, for example, will take you to the door of the home of a psychiatrist absolutely different from the rest of his colleagues: Luis Gutiérrez Rojas. Gutiérrez Rojas is different, not only because of the knowledge he possesses, but above all because of how he tells it. “It is very important, in this society of over-information, to have a great how to tell our what, and Dr. Gutiérrez Rojas has found that how in one of the most powerful tools that human beings know to communicate: humor,” Zapata acknowledges. about your guest.
“Listening to him talk about failure, narcissism, happiness, how children's stories incredibly represent psychological patterns, through humor, is an experience that no one should miss. Learning, laughing and singing – the doctor is also great at it – means being a little happier,” he adds.
And from a different psychiatrist to a mass idol. With that label you can describe the guest of Zapata Tenor's second stop on this trip. The one who gets into the car is Jorge Jiménez Moreno, this thirty-something cartoonist has a legion of fans from all over the world who closely follow his path in the world of comics.
The story of this pro from Alpujarra, who now has hundreds of thousands of followers on social networks, began in the small town of Cádiar. There he began to dream of drawing his favorite comic characters and soon began to recreate the Ninja Turtles or Son Goku with his own pencils. He was only 5 years old, but his drawings already left the older people who saw those works of art speechless and who could not believe the age of his creator.
Jiménez Moreno and Zapata Tenor talk about that path and the doubts, the difficult moments that artists must face when “they wonder if their dream will feed them, or as it is commonly said, if drawing would have any outlets.” ”Zapata remembers.
And, although today Jorge Jiménez Moreno is one of the most sought-after artists in the world and works for DC Comics, painting Batman and Superman with his talent for their editions around the world, “his story is that of someone who has achieved his dream through great effort and great sacrifice. He has great talent and he was lucky to be able to recognize it, to be aware of it,” he insists.
The tour of Granada takes Zapata Tenor to a key point in the city, the most emblematic viewpoint of the Albaicín. It is his third stop and he is accompanied by Emilio Juan Ildefonso Calatayud Pérez, better known as Judge Calatayud by many Internet users in Spain. Together they head to the San Miguel Alto viewpoint. An old children's reformatory where, according to the judge, there is the best view of Granada. The video attests to this.
For those who do not know, Emilio Juan Ildefonso Calatayud Pérez is the senior juvenile judge in Spain. Although he was born in Ciudad Real, he has developed his career in Granada “judging, but above all, taking care of his chorizos, as he says,” explains Zapata.
“He condemned many of the kids to learn to read and write, aware that they only needed a second chance and understanding. This circumstance has made him a very loved and admired character in the entire Spanish-speaking Internet community," says Zapata. To which Calatayud himself replies: "It's amazing that I have become famous for having common sense." Along the way He speaks with emotion about values such as forgiveness, empathy, justice or happiness.
When asked if there will be more stops, Zapata Tenor is clear: “surely there will be. This is a journey we cannot give up. Meeting people who inspire us through their actions, their ideas or their values is essential, vital, in this world of ours that moves so quickly and in which these references are so often missing,” he concludes. We will have to be attentive for the rest of the trip.
