How did we get here? Who am I?
Music has been a part of my life for my entire life! My earliest musical memory is being surrounded by the music of “Los Kjarkas”, the most famous Bolivian folk music group in the world. My parents would also play everything from Green Day to Mercedes Sosa in the house.
My mother is from Bolivia and met my father who’s from Baltimore when he was working in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in the late 1980s, so my early musical exposures were shaped by this cultural mix. Bolivian folk music (and Andean folk music as a whole) uses all kinds of indigenous flutes, so growing up I always had the sound of flutes in my ear.
While no one on either side of my family was formally musically trained, my parents were always supportive of my musical adventures! Since I grew up loving to sing (my favorite hits were from The Lion King and anything else Disney), I started in elementary choir and soon made it into a county honors choir that got to sing at a National Christmas Tree Lighting! My mother might still have the scarf from that night tucked away somewhere…
Fast forward a little to the 4th grade when kids in Maryland get to pick their instruments, and I end up picking the trumpet! Yeah, you heard that right…
A trumpeter turned flutist? Stranger things have happened…
I know, I know. What a wild turn of events! Here’s how it went down…
Playing the trumpet was going just fine for me, but I wasn’t the most diligent about practicing at home and wasn’t really interested in (or aware of?) private lessons. Mostly, I picked the trumpet because it’s what boys were “supposed” to play. What a silly, made-up rule!
I re-joined Band in 7th grade, still in the trumpet section and just flying under the radar. Then, I met my friend Jose from Peru who introduced me to the Quena, an indigenous Andean flute that’s used heavily in a lot of the folk music I grew up listening and dancing to! This was the beginning of the end of my time with the trumpet. I eventually begged my parents to buy me my first Quena so I could learn on the side, while still playing trumpet in band class.
When I got to 10th grade, still playing trumpet, my little sister reached 4th grade and picked the flute as her instrument. I had always been curious about it, so now that we had one in the house, it was finally my chance!! I began teaching myself with online tutorials and after a little trial & error, BOOM! I found the instrument I was truly meant to play, my resonance. I suddenly wanted to practice obsessively, do competitions, and even major in music in college!
Here & Now…
Many years, private lessons, and two degrees later, playing and teaching the flute is still one of the things that brings me the most joy in my life! This is because in the years since finishing school, I’ve realized how perfectionism held me back creatively and should have no place in music or the arts. Striving for excellence is one thing, but holding ourselves to impossible standards is another! This is one of the main pillars that guides me as a performer and teacher.
As a freelancer, I’ve performed with several orchestras in Iowa, Michigan, Maryland, and Washington, DC. I’ve also presented recitals at a few flute conventions! My EP “In Memory Of” is available on Spotify and Apple Music, and features 4 commissioned works by composers of the Global Majority. My upcoming album, “Voces de America”, will feature solo flute pieces by living Latin American composers and a world premiere of a flute trio by Chicano composer Arturo “Artie” Rodriguez.