Juan Diego Florez, Luis Fonsi warm up to inaugurate Lima Pan-Am Games

Lima — Peru’s Juan Diego Florez and Puerto Rico ‘s Luis Fonsi on Tuesday began warming up for their participation in the inauguration of the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima along with an orchestra of children and young people sponsored by the Symphony for Peru educational and social project.

The two artists held an enthusiastically received meeting in which the Puerto Rican performer was welcomed by the Peruvian tenor with “En mi viejo San Juan” (In My Old San Juan) in the presence of Lima Mayor Jorge Muñoz and the president of the 2019 Lima Organizing Committee, Carlos Neuhaus.

The encounter constituted an appetizer prior to their show at Lima’s National Stadium, where the pair will perform together with other outstanding national artists such as Eva Ayllon, Lucho Quequezana, Pouchi Sasaki and Pelo D’Ambrosio.

The site for the encounter was the Hall of Mirrors in the Municipal Palace, where dozens of child and teen musicians and chorus members also arrived accompanied by orchestra director Hugo Carrio to play and perform assorted classical compositions.

The event was kicked off by the famed Peruvian tenor with his interpretation of the classic Puerto Rican number by Noel Estrada, and Fonsi publicly praised the performance.

The youth orchestra, founded by Florez, then took the stage with a mix of mambos which they played with enthusiasm and a festive air and which were hailed by all who were present.

Fonsi arrived in Lima on Monday to prepare for his participation in the inaugural ceremony, at which he will sing, according to what he said at a press conference, a medley of his numbers, including a “surprise” about which he provided no further details.

“What I like is to be able to do both things: get the people dancing and to be able to sing a song with an acoustic guitar. That’s me,” the Puerto Rican artist said.

The Pan American Games will bring 6,680 athletes from 41 countries around the Americas to Lima and Callao to participate in 39 different sports, 22 of which will be featured at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Between Aug. 23 and Sept. 1, the Parapan American Games will bring 1,890 athletes from 33 nations to Peru to participate in 17 sports, 13 of which will be included in the 2020 Paralympic Games, also to be held in Tokyo.