What program are you in, and what drew you to this field of study?
MFA in sonic practice. I was drawn to this field of study because of my interest in developing a broader understanding of the technology one can use to create music, and engage with sound in a liberating way.
Where do you consider your hometown and how has your background influenced your approach to music and interdisciplinary art?
Mexico City is my hometown. It has influenced my music a lot. I started to consider how I could be transparent and honest about myself, solely in terms of sound, and that question has always drawn me to the music which is popular in the city, like tropical dance music, or alternative rock. Likewise, the place itself has a very rich history, full of social contrasts. It has taught me about inequality and to be critical about my place in society.
Where did you earn your undergraduate degree and how did your academic journey lead you to Dartmouth?
I earned it at Academia de Arte de Florencia, in Mexico City. One of my teachers posted online that the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble was hosting a composition competition, specially aimed at Mexican composers. I applied with an original piece, and I won it.
My professional relationship with Dr. Brian Messier was so generative, that I decided to come study here in order to be closer to his ensemble, and of course because of the importance and history of this institution in the United States.
Which faculty members are you collaborating with on your current projects, and how have they influenced your research?
Ash Fure and Bethany Younge were instrumental in my process, they both asked questions that brought me closer, little by little to the end result of my project.
I also took painting lessons with Enrico Riley, and apart from changing the way I see the world, he pointed me in the direction of the Bauhaus school of art and design. In this way I was able to find resonances in other artists' work, in order to build my own.
Your work explores the intersection of music, visual art, and architecture. What inspired you to pursue this interdisciplinary approach?
This is precisely indebted to Mexico City, and my experience growing up there. I had the great opportunity to collaborate as a singer in a theater play back in 2017, in Casa Estudio Luis Barragán. This place resonated with me in depths I didn't know where possible. After this, an obsession with Mexican Modernist architecture began.
I toured as many sites as I could in my own city (I even found out –in hindsight– that I had done my first communion in Barragan's beautiful chapel in the south of the city), and so I started thinking about how would it be to compose music "in the style" of Luis Barragán.
I believe this to be a life long question, and in my path I crossed ways with visual artist Emily Hass. We met at MacDowell, as artists in residence, and discovered we had many interests in common. She had learned about Barragán in the past and really wanted to explore his work somehow. Upon learning about the Arts Integration Grant, we decided to collaborate and research on this architect's work together. Thus mixing her visual craft, and my musical craft in a project around Mexican architecture.
Can you tell us more about your recent research trip to Germany and how it has shaped your thesis project?
My recent research trip to Germany was planned after I took painting lessons, and I made specific connections with what I learned there, my Arts Integration Project, and the Bauhaus School of Arts and Crafts. All of a sudden, I realized that I wanted to go to the source of a plastic and abstract artistic language that emanated from Weimar, Germany.
On my trip, I spent time in Berlin, where I took a couple of lessons with Marc Sabat, a leading scholar in the field of Just Intonation. With his help I thought about ways in which to organize musical tones in a 3D virtual grid, in order to be able to translate shapes in space, to "shapes in music".
Furthermore, I visited Weimar and Dessau, cities where the Bauhaus University was founded, and currently has active campuses. I had an incredible time delving into the art and archive material showing at both places. I saw original furniture built by Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. A lot of paintings and sketches by Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Josef and Anni Albers, Oskar Schlemmer, as well as notes taken by their students in class!
This was a forward thinking school that allowed students to think freely and make connections between crafts, in order to innovate and, under the tutelage of people like Johannes Itten, elevate their souls! I kept searching for specific mentions of the relationship between music and the art that was developed in the 30s in these schools. However, for most of what I found, the connections remained very abstract and almost nonexistent. I actually concluded that I was trying to break a code that seemed impossible, but only because I was asking the wrong question. Instead of listening to music, the Bauhaus archive allows you to LOOK at music. The relationship between color, shape, rhythm, space, and frequencies is all over the notes left behind!
When I got back to the USA, and into the Josef Albers Foundation (what a miracle!)I was able to get a broader picture of a specific canon of artists and schools of thought that had clearly influenced each other. After studying in Germany with Marc Sabat and –indirectly– with the Bauhaus Teachers, I could start looking at Barragan's craft from another perspective, as well as composers like LaMonte Young and David B Doty. I had all of the tools, and felt ready to tackle a first iteration of my "architectural music".
How will the Alumni Research Award support your work, and what new opportunities will it open up for you?
The award supported my work by allowing me to pursue a very specific research project, with very specific interests. All throughout, the process has been fun and exciting for me. And building from this, the grant allowed me to make decisions about what studio materials I needed in order to build my project the way I imagined, after having done my research.
Why did you choose Dartmouth to pursue your degree?
It is interesting, because somehow I believe Dartmouth chose me. I came in contact with Dr. Brian Messier, director of bands at Dartmouth after he awarded me the Grand Prize for his Composition Competition in 2020. Since then, We've maintained a fun and meaningful relationship. And it was he who suggested I look into the MA in Digital Musics. I immediately did, knowing about the prestigious history of this institution, and was lucky to be accepted into the program.
I am extremely grateful for this program, and I feel extremely proud of being a member of the first generation to graduate with an MFA in Sonic Practice –a significant shift in the program that took place while I was enrolled. I will also be the first Mexican to graduate with an MFA in Dartmouth's history. ¡Viva México!
Outside of your studies, what are some of your hobbies or creative interests?
Music, music, music– only music. I also read and watch films. I love to draw. I'd also like to be a better cook.
What is your favorite place or activity at Dartmouth or in the Upper Valley, and why?
Dartmouth Skiway is such a privilege! I love that we have that resource so close to us, and I'm truly going to miss the feeling of FLOW as I go downhill. I also love swimming at Mink Brook, and swimming at the gym.
Also, eating Mapo Tofu at Han Fusion with my best friend Abi, is one of my favorite activities.
