From Royal Albert Hall to Mexican prisons: Elena Durán’s journey home

It’s a Friday nighttime successful 1957. Young Elena Durán sits beside her grandma astatine the Star Theatre successful West Oakland, California, watching a Mexican film. It’s a ritual the 2 ladies stock regularly, but contiguous is different. Before the feature, a newsreel shows Pedro Infante’s ceremonial successful Mexico City, held aft the beloved vocalist and movie prima died successful a level crash. According to Elena’s representation of the evening, the full cinema is successful tears.

Her grandmother, Soledad, near Aguascalientes for the United States, but her emotion for Mexico ne'er faded. So she took her granddaughter, calved successful East Oakland to Mexican-American parents, to the movies. It was present that Mexican Golden Age movie stars and euphony — from ranchera to corridos — would signifier Elena’s beingness path. 

When Elena Duran was 8 years old, soon aft she’d received her archetypal flute for Christmas, her begetter took her to conscionable legendary flute shaper George Koregelos. They became lifelong friends. (Elena Duran/Facebook)

For the adjacent 60 years, the talented instrumentalist would research prestigious performance halls, celebrated palaces and high-security prisons, yet stopping for bully successful the state her grandma yearned for. Here is the communicative of Elena Durán, 1 of the world’s astir respected flautists.

The classical years

When Elena was conscionable 7 years old, a schoolhouse euphony teacher, Frank Ono, passed her successful the corridor and said, “You’ve got large lips for the flute!” That was each it took, and she instantly asked her parents for one. At eight, her privation came existent — she received a flute for Christmas.

Shortly after, her begetter took her to conscionable George Koregelos, who yet opened House of Woodwinds successful Oakland. Elena spent countless hours successful the shop, gathering celebrated woodwind players who each made it a constituent to spot George erstwhile they were successful the Bay Area.

At eighteen, Elena took her archetypal backstage lesson. She past enrolled astatine Mills College, but aft conscionable 1 year, she was offered a lecturer presumption astatine Stanford University. Once she had 2 teaching years nether her belt, Elena took the leap and moved to Europe to survey with immoderate of the top flute players of each time: Jean‑Pierre Rampal, Aurèle Nicolet and James Galway.

She remembers successful a uncommon infinitesimal of doubt, Rampal reassured her: “Your way is going to beryllium precise different, but you volition beryllium capable to bash it.” As Elena would authorities during our interview, “You can’t get done beingness without radical who judge successful you.”

Rampal’s content successful her led to large things. 

Elena would spell connected to execute aggregate times for the British Royal Family, including Queen Elizabeth II. She performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra astatine the Royal Albert Hall successful London. In 1984, Paul McCartney saw her connected British tv and called personally to collaborate. The effect was “We All Stand Together,” a opus which reached No. 3 connected the U.K. Singles Chart. She recorded Bach with jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Mozart with the Royal Philharmonic, and was the archetypal to grounds Claude Bolling’s “California Suite” astatine Abbey Road Studios.

Duran playing connected Christmas Eve successful 2024 successful Mexico City. (Alejandro Medina Guzman/Mexico City Culture Ministry)

Through it all, Elena’s doctrine remained — and continues to stay — simple: “It should beryllium fun. Be truly enthusiastic astir what you do. Don’t overteach, and don’t overthink. Approach it with trust, knowing thing affirmative volition come.” This motto taught her to “change with the changes” and ne'er instrumentality nary for an answer. 

By immoderate measure, Elena Durán had “made it.” So why, successful the 1990s, did she permission it each down for Mexico?

The return

Elena and Michael, her hubby and manager, moved to Mexico for what was expected to beryllium 1 year. They stayed for several. The 1995 peso situation forced them to leave, albeit temporarily. The brace returned successful the aboriginal 2000s, and this clip Elena was acceptable to afloat clasp her grandmother’s legacy.

In 2000, she released “Nostalgia for Mexico,” her archetypal Mexican signaling — a enactment of salon euphony featuring composers similar Manuel M. Ponce. Instead of replacing those magical Mexican voices from her childhood, Elena chose to grant them with her flute. Michael explains: “When different vocalist sings Esperón oregon Jiménez songs, it’s ne'er arsenic bully arsenic the original. But connected the flute, it reawakens the representation without challenging the original.”

Those Friday nights astatine the Star Cinema were nary longer conscionable memories.

“I’m benignant of surviving the portion of the Mexican imagination that my grandma had,” Elena says. “She went to America but ne'er forgot Mexico, ne'er became Americanized. I’m fortunate that I tin unrecorded successful some worlds.”

Validation

One evening astatine a reception for Manuel Esperón — composer of “Amorcito corazón” and “¡Ay, Jalisco, nary te rajes!” — Elena played respective of his songs. The adjacent Saturday morning, her doorbell rang. It was Esperón himself, 97 years old, asking if she would play much of his music.

Between 2006 and 2008, Duran performed astatine respective men’s prisons successful Mexico and successful the U.S. with her initiative, Flautas Sin Fronteras. This is simply a signaling of her performing astatine a men’s situation successful Mexico City.

For the adjacent 2 years until his passing, they worked together. He wrote “Blues Maldad” specifically for her, a performance portion showcasing the jazz and blues power helium loved but seldom explored. Then Rubén Fuentes — the arranger down José Alfredo Jiménez’s astir celebrated rancheras, including “Amanecí en tus brazos” — asked if she would bash the aforesaid for his music.

The validation from Mexico’s top composers led to a committee from Naxos International: “The Mexican Songbook,” six recordings preserving the enactment of Esperón, Jiménez, Fuentes, Armando Manzanero, Manuel M. Ponce and Agustín Lara. She’d played for royalty, but this — the blessing of the composers whose songs her grandma loved — was each the validation she needed.

From performance halls to prisons

Elena wasn’t contented playing lone for those who could spend performance tickets. For the past 25 years, she has devoted her vigor to Flauta Sin Fronteras, taking euphony to prisons, borderline communities and stateless populations successful Mexico and the U.S. She has received 2 humanitarian awards: from Catholic Charities of San Diego for her enactment with stateless women, and from Casa Familiar successful San Ysidro for her enactment on the border.

“You person to instrumentality radical arsenic you find them,” says Elena astir moving successful prisons. “You can’t spell successful determination and judge. The extremity is to person immoderate benignant of affectional interaction with them and not to justice the acquisition they’re surviving through.”

After each concert, she doesn’t articulation the warden for coffee; she goes consecutive into the assemblage to greet each azygous attendee.

Coming afloat ellipse to Mexico

At a performance successful Laredo for “Pedro Mi Amor,” a tribute to Pedro Infante, she arrived to spot a antheral waiting for her with chocolates and flowers. Elena recognized him immediately: Emilio Girón Fernández, the kid histrion who played El Torito — Pedro Infante’s beloved lad — successful the films “Nosotros los Pobres” (We, the Poor) and “Ustedes los Ricos” (You, the Rich), the aforesaid histrion she’d watched arsenic a kid with her grandmother. She introduced him to the anxious audience, bringing Pedro Infante’s films to life.

As Mexico City’s authoritative tourism and taste ambassador, Elena plays successful the Zócalo connected Christmas Eve for those who person obscurity other to go.

“There are a batch of radical who person nothing,” she says. “Maybe I tin springiness them something.”

Elena maintains heavy ties to her grandmother’s household successful Aguascalientes.

“I person a precise large Mexican household there. My grandma was a cardinal pillar successful my young world.”

She inactive loves the Pedro Infante films they watched unneurotic — “the epic quality, the black-and-white, the music.”

Michael observes the contrast: “It’s large if she’s playing successful Berlin oregon the Royal Albert Hall successful London, but to play successful the Zócalo oregon a parkland — I spot that arsenic the beginning.”

Soledad gave her granddaughter a originative instauration done movies and euphony astatine the Star Cinema. Today, Elena brings them location to Mexico.

Watch Elena Durán execute unrecorded with Edgar Ibarra connected soft astatine the Residence of the British Ambassador connected Feb. 17, 2026, astatine 6:30 p.m. The show is hosted by Amistad Británico‑Mexicana, a charitable instauration supporting acquisition and wellness projects similar Elena’s Flauta Sin Fronteras.

Email Susana Duncan astatine [email protected] to reserve your seat. A 1,000-peso donation is suggested.

Bethany Platanella is a question planner and manner writer based successful Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine deed that comes straight aft booking a level ticket, exploring section markets, practicing yoga and munching connected caller tortillas. Sign up to person her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog or travel her on Instagram.