(Memories)

Memorias is scored for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion. The work is in three movements titled Prologo, Atardecer en Varadero (Sunset in Varadero), and Carnaval. The work is based on my memories of Cuba as a young child. Prologo is a reminder of Afro-Cuban drums, Varadero is a beautiful Cuban beach where I remember having lovely walks, and Carnaval is just that, the excitement of Carnival with lots of dancing and singing.

This piece is part of a series of compositions where the composer weaves in rhythms and themes from the Caribbean. It draws inspiration from the 'Boricua diaspora,' which refers to the significant migration of Puerto Ricans to the United States that began in the early 20th century and has escalated following Hurricane Maria and the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico. The composer and her family have personally faced many challenges of living in the diaspora, experiencing a complex blend of emotions that intertwine the joy of new beginnings with the nostalgia and longing for the land, family, and friends left behind.

The composition is structured as a single movement with three distinct moods. The first section reflects the resolute migration of many Puerto Ricans, who embark on a new journey filled with hopes and dreams, yet pause along the way to honor the traditions and love for their homeland. The middle section captures the yearning of those who dream of returning to the island, as well as the bittersweet realization that so much has changed during their absence. Love, nostalgia, and pain are conveyed through the melodic lines of the flute, cello, and violin, set against the dissonant and clustered notes of the piano. The final section opens with the iconic sound of the 'coquí,' a small frog native to Puerto Rico, accompanied by the ancestral drumming of the 'bomba sicá.' The sounds of the island's mountains and coasts intertwine, representing the voices of all 'Boricuas' everywhere, expressing their enduring love for Puerto Rico.

Midnight Rumba depicts a surreal tropical nightscape, where organic voices, percussive textures, and dance-driven grooves swirl together in a shared atmosphere. Unfolding like a sonic sofrito, diverse elements are blended to form the base of the music, nothing is directly quoted— everything is instead evoked, suggested.

Its rhythms and atmospheres are moulded by the sounds and images that linger after dusk: fragments of distant music, and various bioluminescent lights. And, most iconically, the ever-present coquí, whose calls are inseparable from the Puerto Rican nighttime, and thread through the piece with delicate persistence.

Here, Rumba is more than rhythm—it is energy, movement, a divertimento of sorts; the quiet fire that animates the night. It dances at the edge of perception: sometimes vivid, sometimes barely there—but always vital. It is both form and metaphor—a force that stirs, guides, seduces, and unsettles.

In essence, this piece is sound in motion, a nocturne that boils from within, shaped by shifting landscapes—calm and discreet, yet pulsing: evocative and unpredictable.

As listeners, we are invited to wander through this terrain, feeling the textures of humidity and the swing that guides the night, transforming listening into a journey, night into soundscape, and memory into pulse.

‘Firming Ground’ is an homage to the metamorphosis of the concept of home throughout our lives. As we move from house to house, city to city, state to state, and country to country, we encounter that we hold a standard of a past home as the truest idea of the concept that we hold. However, ‘home’, in some sense, may still be ahead of us. Throughout the piece, I hope to develop this idea by creating various atmospheres throughout the ensemble — each of which depicting a different home I’ve had throughout my life. Some are peaceful, some are chaotic, but all together they create the human experience I call my own.

Few things in life provide as much simplistic joy as flowers. There are nearly as many uses for flowers as there are variety. They can be gifts for loved ones, uplift spirits for healing, mark moments of celebration, provide comfort for the mourning, or give a rush by catching the bouquet at a wedding. Whether they are beautiful decorations or well-tended in a garden, sometimes it's nice to just stop and smell the flowers.

Because of Flowers... comprises of three movements. The first two movements are performed together without pause. Fallen Petals is introspective and serene. As wonderful as flowers are, eventually the petals will fall, such as chapters will end in life. As the beauty of the plant fades, solace can be taken in the joy that they once gave.

Bouquet of Roses focuses on a repeating harmonic pattern, with lush harmonies and solos. In contrast to Fallen Petals, this movement is considerably slower in tempo, while still being overtly expressive in nature.

Both Fallen Petals and Bouquets of Roses are marked by flowing solos and a reoccurring swirl of notes, like a flurry of flowers, that bookends the joined movements.