Saved from violence by his violin

Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe visited Fort Worth two years ago as part of the Vicente Fox Forum of World Leaders, an initiative created by the former Mexican president in 2011.

Gutierrez arranged a special performance for the dignitary.

“I thought it would be nice to have a Colombian student play, so I asked [Moreno] if he would perform,” Gutierrez said. “I was shocked when he told me he had already played for the president.”

Moreno played for then-president Uribe in 2003 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cali as part of an award presentation to Arboleda for creating Fundarboledas. Moreno was 14.

“I was young, but I realized he was a big deal,” Moreno recalled. “I performed as soloist in a Vivaldi concerto, and the foundation orchestra was accompanying me. I remember he was in the front table surrounded by important people.”

During Uribe’s presidential campaign, Gutierrez said, one of the candidate’s slogans was, “Let’s put an instrument in every youth’s hand before they pick up a weapon.”

Moreno was still pleased to play for Uribe again, joining TCU music faculty member Harold Martina in a rendition of “Cachupin,” a Colombian folk song.

TCU Provost Nowell Donovan introduced Moreno as an example of how music can save lives.

“That moment brought tears to the audience and everybody there,” Gutierrez said. “Even Uribe was in tears.”

After the performance, Uribe congratulated the young violinist on his accomplishments. Moreno showed the former president an old newspaper photo of the two several years earlier and a thousand miles away in Cali, Colombia.

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Even with teaching jobs and freelance gigs with the Plano, Irving, and San Angelo orchestras, Moreno has had a hard time paying for trips home. Two years ago, though, he was able to scrounge together enough money to visit his mother and aunts and uncles.

He also saw some of his childhood friends.

Still stuck in Cali’s violent, pressurized daily grind, most of them looked much older than they were.

“When I saw them, I remembered those moments when we were children and playing together,” Moreno said. “My dream is to help children like [Arboleda] did with me. I’m so grateful for people like German [Gutierrez] and Janeth [Lotero]. They want to help people. I was saved, but we need to do something for other kids too.”

Fundarboledas is still seeking money for classes in bassoon, horn, trombone, and percussion. Moreno, who has received a lot of press and media attention in his native country, is aware that the success of the foundation is tied, in part, to his success as a professional musician abroad.

“I think [Arboleda] saw what I was capable of, and that helped motivate her to start the foundation,” Moreno said. “As the first student to come out of Fundarboledas, I have an obligation to the foundation and to all the people who have helped me to find success here and in my future career. It’s not just for myself but for others who haven’t had all opportunities I was given.”

https://www.facebook.com/FundacionMusicalArboledasFundarboledas

His dream, he added, is to help other students like himself find a way out of poverty through music and education.

When friends and colleagues ask Moreno how he likes being at TCU, he often tells them it’s like a dream.

“I was introduced to music early, and it showed me the difference between what was good and what was bad,” he said. “Music showed me a new world of possibilities. It showed me a place where I could be surrounded by beauty.”