Teresa and Orlando
I’d been eager and a little nervous to meet these accomplished musicians from worlds I didn’t know—three years ago. Mutual friends had facilitated the introduction at their home in Los Altos, California. I would write about Teresa and Orlando in my series Soy/Somos on Huffpost. Teresa walked in smiling, warm and ebullient, her curly hair, loose and wild. At the far end of the living room Orlando stood watching, and fetching things for their dog Nina. He sported an Elvis Presley pompadour, black, black, black. I liked them instantly.
Teresa, Orlando, and I met again several weeks ago--compliments of cloud technology. East/West, easy as pie. They sat close together at a small desk at Teresa’s mother’s house where they are living temporarily. Teresa’s flute was on the table, Orlando’s guitar on his knee.
Flute soloist, orchestral player, composers, lyricist, performers in a time of shuttered venues, educators… I wanted to know how they’d weathered the Covid crisis.
Have you been alright dear friends? Projects… your students…? How have musicians coped?
Teresa: Orlando and I have been working twice as hard teaching long distance but feel fortunate that we have a strong teaching base in high schools and college. Musicians who are primarily performers are suffering, just trying to survive.
Soon after we were hit with the illness in California we went on-line with our students. All festivities for Seniors were cancelled. As you know we were living and teaching in San Jose. We tried to make the best of it. We’d have sessions with our students on Zoom and Facetime—but sound lags… To truly know how our students were doing we asked them to record themselves at home and send us the recordings. We discovered that students improved when needing to record themselves—listening and not just performing. A silver lining here.
We are at the busiest time now preparing our students for the testing programs sponsored by MTAC, the Music Teachers Association of California. The young musicians have to learn their pieces remotely and work with piano recordings to the accompanists’ part and learn how to play beautifully in this new fashion. It requires hard work and lots of dedication. Students are judged on musicality, execution, sight reading, and theory to get to the next level. We are submitting videos every day.
Orlando: Being a musician and teacher are completely different. The energy for performing is tremendous. Covid has given us a little rest from that energy for now.
Orlando, are you still working teaching music and culture? I’ll never forget your wise words from our first interview, your concern for young Latino kids with a poor sense of their worth. You said, “Art can rescue culture.”
Orlando: I’d been teaching music at the San Jose Unified School District’s after school program, which closed suddenly because of Covid. Fifty students, three different groups. Mariachi music in downtown San Jose. On the first day—kids holding on to their new guitars—classes were canceled. “You guys need to get out of here.” It was traumatic.
Families with very modest incomes pay a low monthly fee to have us teach something culturally meaningful to their children. Hopefully at the beginning of the year the program will open up slowly, in small groups, maybe in open spaces.
Lately I’ve been working on the producing side—helping private students at recording studios. I have parents tell me proudly, “You are the one who said my son has potential….” There is so much talent.
In what other ways has Covid affected you?
Teresa: My mother was living alone in Mendocino County, four hours north of us in San Jose. We are lucky; we have a strong family factor. A tight-knit Salvadoran family. Orlando and I realized we can teach anywhere. We began to think ten years from now. Let’s secure our retirement while we are still teaching.
We decided to look at land near my mom and began to build a home next to family. My sister also lives nearby. They make sure we are okay. We make sure they are okay. Building our home in Mendocino was a perfect place for distancing. Surrounded by forest. Two and a half miles from the ocean. Like Carmel or San Francisco the fog comes in every day.
I’ll be just finished working and Orlando will come around with folding chairs. He drives us to the ocean. We put chairs on the sand to sit and take a break.
What does the future hold?
Orlando: Our goal for the future would be a hybrid situation—two on-line days of teaching (no sitting in traffic), two days of private performing master classes.
I’ve been giving percussion lessons to a student in Mexico. Another benefit of this time—inspired by the limitations—distance doesn’t matter.
SERENATA
We spoke about current music from Latino performers. And as Orlando firmly believes, “Hay que respetar nuestro folklore,” excited about composers who work with new rhythms but rely on their musical traditions. He spoke about Cuban percussionist and vocalist, Jesús Díaz y su orquesta and un compatriota panameño, Omar Alfanno, whom I didn’t know! I’ve since listened to some of Alfanno’s gorgeous compositions. Here’s one I love, El Gran Varón.
“I have song for you from another Panameño tuyo, Rubén Blades, ‘Buscando Guayaba.’” Orlando played and he and Teresa sang the lyrics for me across 3000 miles by land
—instant on the cloud.
SPANISH WORDS OF THE DAY:
Soy/Somos - I am/We are
los MÚSICOS – Musicians
los MAESTROS - Teachers
la FLAUTA – Flute
el/la FLAUTISTA - Flute player
TOCAR LA FLAUTA – Play the flute
la GUITARRA – Guitar
el/la LETRISTA – Lyricist
el/la CANTANTE – Singer
la SERENATA - Serenade
el/la COMPATRIOTA - Fellow countryman or woman!