Appearances
Kent Blossom Music Festival, Ohio, 2022; Chautauqua Music Festival, New York, 2023; International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, 2024
What is your earliest memory of classical music?
I was on a school field trip to see the San Antonio Symphony and I remember being extremely affected by the way the conductor turned around and explained to us how the orchestra was like a big, happy family. He was trying to be funny but he didn’t realize how it changed my life forever.
Was there a teacher who was particularly impactful/helpful? What made this instructor stand out?
My lesson teacher in high school, Jennifer Berg. I idolized her life and always told myself I wanted the same education from the same schools as her . . . and I did it!
What made you decide to become a musician? Was there a particular performance or person that influenced your decision?
My mom always told me stories about how she was in marching band and how she felt that she had so much potential in music. I later learned my grandmother was also a musician, a saxophonist. It felt like it was in my bones to do something that the line of women before me did.
What is the most memorable performance you ever had?
I did a year after my masters at Boston University. When I was there I premiered an opera entitled El Caminante by Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes. It’s an insanely beautiful opera with a libretto written in Spanish. I had one of my close friends from my restaurant job come and watch the premiere. She is originally from Mexico, she was worried she wouldn’t understand what was going on when I originally invited her. I surprised her and didn’t tell her it was going to be sung in Spanish. After the performance she was visibly moved because the music was extremely accessible to her. She told me she felt very proud to be there. I am proud to have her as my friend.
What is your proudest achievement as a musician?
Doing outreach with young people from Puerto Rico and bringing classical music to them. Seeing the appreciation reminded me of why we play music in the first place.
Is there a person or people you most respect in your field and why?
The underdog, always. Art is born from struggle, not handouts.
Tell us about a time you almost gave up but didn’t.
I didn’t advance at an audition that I worked extremely hard for. I was practicing three hours a day, plus reed making every day. I would practice after my nine-hour shifts working at the restaurant. I was physically and mentally drained. But my mom was there to help me put myself back together. She always is.
Can you share any memorable onstage mishaps?
My best friend and I were playing Handel’s Giulio Cesare at Indiana University. It was particularly cold outside and my reeds kept cracking in the pit and I kept having to use my friend’s reeds. The opera opens with a huge oboe duet, it was mortifying.
Do you have a favorite non-classical musician or band?
I love Kathleen Hanna “Bikini Kill”, Squirrel Flower, Pinegrove, Lomelda, and all tejano music!
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
I’d be a writer. I would be writing the stories of other women and I’d explore the possibilities of community through writing. I’d probably own five chihuahuas by now as well.
What is a surprising part of playing your instrument that you think most people don’t know?
The intense and overwhelming sense of community that comes with being an oboist. When I first started at Indiana University I almost resented the insane number of oboists there were, I felt like I was under a microscope at all times. But as I grow older I start to understand that oboists take care of other oboists. We know the struggle of the whole mechanism and experience real empathy for each other. Just from the sound of the reed alone we know what the other is thinking and feeling. Not many instrumentalists can say that.
What advice would you give your younger self or anyone starting out?
Do not be afraid to make a mistake in front of your teachers. They’ve made the mistake a hundred more times than you have.
What do you wish you knew starting out that you know now?
Write everything down, keep every score, every part, every program, and alphabetize it!