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Composer finds inspiration in own musical upbringing
Hector Martinez Morales has gone from strumming folklore tunes for his family band Nosotros in Tempe, to writing and performing in symphonic concerts in Paris, New York and Chicago.
His musical talents and tastes run the gamut from Latin American folk to classical to computerized sounds to symphonic mariachi, and his recent accolades are vaulting him into the higher echelons of young, American contemporary composers.
In a phone interview from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Martinez says his panorama of music compositions reflects the array of influences he experienced growing up in a multicultural lifestyle. Originally from Hermosillo, Sonora, Martinez grew up in Tucson and Tempe, and has attended music schools at ASU, in Paris and now in Massachusetts.
"My music shows what is going on with me," says the 25-year-old, who defines his work as "folk-influenced concert," a trend that is slowly gaining acceptance in the world of music composition.
His diverse works include The Royko Sonata for piano, which was commissioned to honor the late Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko: Trois Image de Ma Vie, a three-movement concerto for charango and string orchestra, and his newest work, Son, a symphonic mariachi composition that debuted at the University of California, Bakersfield, in early June.
"I kind of just fell into it, because I am deeply rooted in different things: folklore, Mexican, classical, electronic," Martinez says. "The music grows on it’s own from that."
