(upbeat music) - Welcome to "Horizonte," a show that takes a look at current issues through a Hispanic lens.

I'm your host, Catherine Anaya.

On March 31st, 1995, music lost a bright light when Tejano music superstar Selena was murdered by the president of her fan club.

Now at the time, Selena was making moves to find crossover success, which she did achieve with her posthumously released album "Dreaming of You."

Her legacy lives on, and the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra will pay tribute to the music of Selena, accompanied by Latin Grammy-nominated vocalist Isabel Marie Sanchez, performing Selena's hits.

Here's a clip of Sanchez performing.

(upbeat music) (audience cheering) (Isabel singing in Spanish) (gentle music) - [Catherine] Please welcome to "Horizonte" Isabel Marie Sanchez.

Isabel, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you so much for having me.

It's a pleasure.

- Your music, your voice, it's just amazing.

- Thank you.

- So powerful, so beautiful.

You make me wanna dance.

(both laughing) - It's hard not to dance when you're singing Selena songs.

- That is so true.

How would you describe Selena's legacy, and how she continues to resonate with audiences of all ages after so many years?

- It's amazing to see.

I mean, Selena has definitely been an idol in my life in a lot of the Latin community, just coming to these performances and seeing different generations and the generations that are coming now, they're enjoying Selena's music.

They're just in her spirit, and just wanting to celebrate her legacy.

It's beautiful, and she was just a powerhouse.

She was able to sing a country song or a ballad or a cumbia and still sound amazing at the drop of a hat.

And she was definitely something that we're never gonna have ever again.

There's never gonna be another Selena.

And doing these tributes, we're trying to be as respectful as we can, especially with her family.

And it's the only approved tribute by the Quintanilla family.

But it's definitely beautiful to see that I have just a little part just of the history of this.

So it's amazing.

- It's fantastic.

And she really could sing anything and everything.

- She could sing anything.

- Yes.

So performing with the Phoenix Symphony is very exciting.

Tell me a little bit about the kinds of songs that you'll be performing, because she had so many hits that resonate with so many people.

- It was definitely hard to narrow down what songs we were going to choose and everything.

But there was a great team, and the first show that we did in Houston, I was 15 years old, and it ranges from her older songs from when she was younger to her most famous songs, "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom," "Amor Prohibido," "Como La Flor," It's just a very fun show.

It's something that we encourage the fans to get up and dance for and have a great time, cry with me, sing with me as loud as they can.

We're just trying to continue her music and be as if she was there.

- Well you mentioned that you listened to her music when you were growing up.

How has she influenced you through the years in your career?

- In my career, I mean, just being able to see someone with my bronze skin and my dark hair on stage in front of thousands of people, that changed my life as a little girl, I was able to see her and say, "You know what?"

I started to dream.

I started to dream with ease.

And if somebody like her that looks like me can do this, then I wanna be able to do that one day.

And it's so surreal every day that I'm able to consider her family, like my family.

We've created a relationship that I started when I was 11 years old.

I started working with the Quintanilla family.

So just to be able to be in the same room with them and see how they are, you can really get a sense of how Selena was.

And it's amazing.

- And this tribute is, as you mentioned, the only one approved by her family.

How important is that to the concert itself?

- It's very important.

Honestly, it's an honor to be able to say that you were asked by Abraham Quintanilla, her father, he was a trailblazer in their career as a family as a whole.

And he reminds me a lot of my dad because, and he always reminds us too, you know, anything that I'm going through, they've already been through.

So just being able to hear that from him and say, "Hey, do you wanna be a part of this tribute?"

It was amazing.

And it was definitely an opportunity that I couldn't pass by.

And I'll always never be shy to admit that the Quintanilla family has opened a lot of doors for me.

They've been a great stepping stone in my career.

And I'm just very glad to be able to continue the music and be able to sing to the younger generation.

And Selena's doing that all by herself.

But just to be able to say that, "Hey, this is the only approved tribute by the Quintanilla family."

There's a lot of tributes out there, and it makes it really special for me.

- Very special, and her father, Abraham, was very influential, obviously, in her career.

What has it been like working with him?

Because as you said, you've been with him now since you were 11 years old.

- Yes, a lot of people would say, like, I mean, if you watch the Selena movie, they're like, "Oh, Abraham is very strict.

He's very tough."

And he has his moments, but he is the kindest person ever.

I know him to be very sweet and always joking around, talking about his favorite restaurants.

Hi-Ho is his favorite place in Corpus Christi.

So, we always go there every time we go to Corpus.

So he's definitely been influential in my life, in my parents' life, and in my family's life.

So yeah, I think he's just a great person.

Very humble, very humble.

- Well, as are you, you've accomplished so much in such a short time.

You are the 2017 Tejano Music Awards Best New Female Artist, nominated in three categories at the 2018 Tejano Music Awards.

So congratulations on all of that success.

- Thank you, thank you.

It's been a long time coming.

- What do you think makes Tejano music so special?

- Oh, for me, I would say I'm Mexican-American and I feel like it definitely, you know, you can sing English and Spanish in Tejano music, and that's what I gravitated more towards.

I really admired that I was able to be who I was in my music and not kind of, I never really pigeonholed myself into anything.

But definitely, I never wanna leave my Tejano fans.

And they are loyal fans and very loving.

So just to be with them in my journey, it's been amazing.

- What's it been like working with the symphony?

Because most people would not think that the symphony is where you're gonna go to get up and dance and clap your hands and sing and cry and all of that, but this is what you're going to be doing with the music of Selena.

- Well, every time that we've gone to a different city with this show, all the symphonies have been very surprised.

It's the loudest crowd that they've seen.

It's the most fun.

Everyone's dancing, people are dressed up like Selena.

It's something that we are so grateful for.

I'm so grateful that the Latino community can come into an area where sometimes it's more classical.

It's not something that we would reach for.

But once you're there, you're like, "Hey, I wanna do this again.

I wanna see the symphony."

I wanna see, you know, because they also do some songs from their repertoire as well.

So be able to mix that and just be able to indulge in it, it's beautiful.

And all the fans definitely wanna go again.

- How much do you have to rehearse for a concert like this?

- Well, these are very professional musicians.

It's definitely a shocker when you know that we only have a date, not even one rehearsal before the show.

But these musicians have the music for months on hand.

And I'm also practicing at my house and while I'm driving.

But yeah, so we definitely have to get together.

We do one performance straight through.

Anything that we need to go through, I go with the conductor, timing, any changes, they're always very symphonic.

- I love that.

Well we should mention that you are going to be here with the Phoenix Symphony, it's called "The Music of Selena," April 5th at 7:30 PM and April 6th at 2:00 PM at the Orpheum Theater in Phoenix.

There are slight differences in the concerts from city to city, right?

- There are.

We always love to add a little surprise here and there, especially for different crowds and especially with the repertoire of the symphony's music.

They like to cater to sometimes what they feel more, or what the conductor feels more aspired with.

And I can't wait to see it, I can't wait to hear it, and I can't wait to meet all the musicians and the fans.

And we're just very excited.

- Oh, we're very excited to have you in Arizona.

So before I let you go, we talked about this beforehand.

If you wouldn't mind just doing a little acapella Selena for us, we would love that.

- I would love to.

- Yay!

(Isabel singing in Spanish) - Oh, you're so amazing.

Such a perfect voice.

Thank you for doing that.

You know, when you're singing an emotional song like this, which so many people have so many attachments to, do you ever get so emotional that you have a hard time getting through the song sometimes?

- I definitely have.

I feel like, especially growing up and seeing Selena in YouTube videos, you always felt like she was singing to you.

And sometimes when I'm looking at the crowd and hearing them sing these songs so loudly, it makes me feel emotional.

And growing up, I have basically kind of put these songs with... Related these songs to my life as well.

So I definitely, if I'm going through a heartbreak or if I'm in love, it kind of is a little bit harder to go through.

- All those moments of life.

(laughs) - Yes, exactly.

- Isabel, thank you.

You're so wonderful.

I really appreciate you spending the time with us and sharing what this process has been like for you.

- Thank you for having me.

Can't wait to see you there.

- Can't wait to see you too.

Thanks, Isabel.

Best of luck and continued success.

- [Isabel] Thank you.

I really appreciate it.

- Good to see you.

- [Isabel] Bye-bye.

- And that's our show.

For "Horizonte" amd Arizona PBS, I'm Catherine Anaya.

Thank you so much for joining us.

(upbeat music)