Fernando Ponce de León, former flutist of the group Mägo de Oz, dies at 59 | Culture | EUROtoday

The flutist of the group Mägo de Oz, Fernando Ponce de León, has handed away this Friday on the age of 59, confirmed the vocalist of the band, José Andreä. The folks band steelon his Instagram account, has printed an announcement through which he says about Ponce de León, “travel companion in a thousand battles”, that “a friend and a great musician is leaving”. Ponce de León, who had left the group in 2010, participated within the creation of the Mägo de Oz album The legend of La Mancha (1998), and already as a flute participant on the albums Finisterra, The City of Trees; Gaia, Belfast, Gaia II: The Sleeping Voice y Gaia III: Atlantia.

“We musicians don’t like silence, we like applause, so we’re not going to ask for a minute of silence for our beloved Fernando, we’re going to ask for a minute of applause in his honour. We love you very much,” his colleagues wrote on Instagram.

“One of the best people I have ever met in this life has passed away, a noble, cultured, funny and intelligent person but above all empathetic and a great friend to his friends,” the group’s singer wrote on his Instagram account. “I still can’t find the words. His musical legacy will always live on, just as he will live on in my memory wherever I am. I hope to find you just as I remember you when we meet again, brother, playing those beautiful melodies that made me fall in love and I will join you with my voice, in the meantime rest in peace my beloved Fernando. May the earth be light on you.”