1.1.1.1-1.1.1.1-T+1(2)-Pno-Hp-Str (3.3.3.2.1) (5min)

Watch HERE.

Geometric Unity was the first virtual orchestra piece written and featured via streaming platforms during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. Working together with the team of the American Youth Symphony, we looked for ways to keep developing the performance skills of our incredibly gifted young musicians even though they could not come together in person. The idea of a virtual orchestra playing original content quickly became the leading strategy for the whole team, and a powerful wave of inspiration took over us.

The result is an orchestral work for 20+ players, designed to be performed and experienced from home via technological means. 7 musical episodes are threaded together, each with different moods that go from wonder to sorrow, joy, and triumphant thrill.

Another source of inspiration came from the intellectual side. During the first days of developing this project, I came across an online discussion of Eric Weinstein’s new theory titled Geometric Unity. Fascinated by his idea of a 14 dimensional observerse, and the beautiful mathematical equations supporting it, I aimed to provide a harmonic language that could be both complex yet palatable and enriching for the common ear. Thanks to another internet sensation, the phenomenally gifted Jacob Collier, I was also inspired to treat this harmonic complexity with the overall feelings and hopes of our society during these times.

The fact that all involved on the performance and production teams were miles apart was definitely a challenge. However, it was incredibly inspiring to write a piece for these young musicians that I’ve had the pleasure of working with since becoming AYS Music Director. Knowing exactly who I was writing for proved to be very advantageous. I listened to their auditions, selected them for the orchestra, performed with them previously, and wrote every part with each musician in mind.

2.2.2.2-4.2.3.1-T + 2-HP-Str. + Solo Cello (30min)

Composed in 2019 for the Colombian virtuoso cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

Movement 1

Movement 2

Movement 3

2.2.2.2-4.2.3.1-T + 2-Hp-Str. (7min)

Under the Shadows, An Immigrant’s Journey, is a very personal orchestral overture written during a period of deep reflection. I have migrated 4 times in my life, and I am also part of the 4th continuous generation of immigrants in my family’s history. I thus felt a special desire to highlight the role immigrants have played in the history of our world. The road to a new land is an unique one for each person, with some choosing their journey with an adventurous spirit, yet others finding themselves forced to flee due to perilous circumstances. In any case, there is that magical moment we all feel when arriving at a new land. My piece is structured as a journey from darkness to light, from one single note to a full multilayered harmonic sound world that could be viewed as representing our plural contemporary society. An Immigrant´s Journey is also a love letter to the orchestra, a migrating entity itself, and in my case a vessel that has taken me on a wild ride across 5 continents. I unleash the full array of beauty that can only be achieved by a world class ensemble such as our own, with a special focus on the idiomatic aspects of each instrument.

Description goes here2(2.picc).2(2.EH).3(3.BCl).2-4.2.3.1-T + 4-Pno-Hp-Str. (7min)

YELLOWHAMMER is a work inspired on my experiences and impressions of Alabama. I am constantly impressed by the natural beauty of the state, from Birmingham’s green spaces to the wilder areas that abound in all directions. There are two bird callings in the music that intervene, eventually playing off each other. One is the European Yellowhammer, a passerine bird whose bird song inspired musical works by Beethoven and Messiaen, and the other is the American Yellowhammer, or Northern Flicker, of which the yellow-shafted subspecies was in 1927 designated Alabama’s State Bird. To contrast these sounds of raw nature I include urban percussive sounds that symbolize Magic City’s industrial origins, with Vulcan’s anvil resonant in the background. The very first chords of the work, from which the first melody is derived, were transcribed from my son’s very first interactions with the piano. He was born in Birmingham.