|
|
Jaime Romero Interview
|
February 10, 2004
|
Myriad :
Hello, Mr Romero, thanks for answering some questions. You won the
First Prize of the
8th Tune Friendly Contest with your piece "Delirio
y fuga" and we wish first to know who you are. Could you please
introduce yourself?
|
Jaime Romero: I am a Guitar
player, composer, math teacher and Chemical Engineer. I was born in
Colombia (South America). I have been studying and composing music
for 25 years. I won the first prize three times in the most
renowned musical competitions in my country as a guitar player and
as a composer. There are important guitar players as Carlos
Barbosa-Lima recording and playing my music.
|
Myriad: Do you play an instrument
(or several) ?
Just Guitar.
Myriad: What are your tastes in
matter of music? You can quote artists or music genres if you
want.
I like Bach, Mozart, Piazzola, Ginastera, King Singers, YoYo Ma,
Bobby McFerrin, and Pepe Romero.
Myriad: More precisely, what are
you currently listening to?
I listen to classical and Latin-American music, contemporary
tango, Colombian music, and vocal ensembles music.
Myriad: And what kind of music
don't you listen to anymore?
Bad music. Music that causes me to feel discomfort or unpleasant
feelings.
Myriad: If you had to chose a
piece to be put into a capsule to be sent to the inhabitants of
Alpha Centauri, what would be your choice?
Bach and more Bach
Myriad: If you had to be out of
the world during a whole year, what are the two albums you would
take away with you?
“The three Mo’ Tenors”, & Bach Fugues.
Myriad: About the piece which won
the contest, what has been the source of your
inspiration?
It is a mixture of anguish and anxiety that evokes
“delirium” in the first part. It gradually becomes a
pleasant part where you feel love, no tension nor stress and
finally it goes to the fugue to the end of the piece.
It is a very common human process where your mind and soul passes
though those stages often and you don’t even realize it
sometimes.
Myriad : What is your
compositional process? (Technical details will be of interest for
the readers)?
Initially I start with a short motive which is going to be
developed. I can never develop the whole piece at once. It grows
within me over time. It depends on the mood I am in.
After that, I select the rhythmic pattern that captures the
feelings that I have. I believe that as a composer, I want the
audience to experience various sensations, such as happiness, love,
sadness and other emotional that will surprise listeners.
When arranging for guitar I have to find a perfect balance between
the music I want to write and the way in which it has to be written
in order to optimize the instrument’s capacity.
Myriad : What are your goals or
your project in relation with music?
I want to place Colombian-Music in the forefront around of the
world. This phenomenon already existed in Venezuela (Alirio Dias
and Antonio Lauro), Cuba (Leo Brower), Argentina (Piazzola) and the
Brazilian music and among other South American countries.
Colombian music is one of the richest expressions in the world but
traditionally has been written for Bandola, Tiple and Guitar as a
folkloric format, unknown in the rest of the world. Despite the
great interest of instrumentalist in other countries to perform our
music, they lack knowledge of working with these folkloric
Colombian instruments. Without that knowledge, it is difficult for
them to write, adapt and perform Colombian music for using
conventional western musical instruments such as piano, guitar,
violin, etc.
Myriad : Do you have a personal
Web site?
Yes. www.latinguitarscores.com
You can listen to my music and download free scores for guitar,
duets, trios and orchestra.
Myriad : Do you want to pass an
advice or a message to the readers of this interview?
Be original!
Myriad : Thank you for having
answered these questions.
|
|
|