PUBLICATIONS
Published
February 2023
Official Wikipedia Article
The Indie Classical Genre
The indie classical genre is generally used to describe the music that follows certain classical music practices but is produced and distributed through independent record labels.
January 2021
In book Innovation in Music: Future Opportunities, edited By Russ Hepworth-Sawyer, Justin Paterson, Rob Toulson
The Online Composer-Audience Collaboration
There is a substantial amount of research on the creative process of the composer, and there has been an increasing interest in detailing the relationship between composer and performer. Yet, there is little research about the dynamics between the composer and listener, a subject which merits consideration. Thanks to the internet and online video-sharing platforms, composers can directly interact with their listeners and fans. I focus specifically on Jacob Collier and Andrew Huang, two artists who make use of these online resources to collaborate with their audience by requesting compositional material from them.
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Unpublished Papers
The Humans and the Machine: Perceptual Differences Between Collective and Solo Performances
This paper provides a thorough comparison between two live performances of Jacob Collier’s song “Don’t You Know”: his 2015 performance with the band Snarky Puppy, and his performance during his One-Man Show in 2016, a multimedia display of multi-instrumental virtuosity where he simulates a digital one-man band using custom equipment. These two performances are published on YouTube with similar popularity, and I supply an analysis of the comments that provide useful insight about the audience’s behaviour and preferences.
An Analytical Comparison of Manuel M. Ponce’s Intermezzo no. 1 and no. 2
Manuel Maria Ponce (1882-1948) was one of the most influential Mexican composers of the early 20th Century. I analyze his Intermezzo no. 1, written during his romantic period in the early 1920s, and compare it to his Intermezzo no. 2, written in Paris around 1933. Although both works display a nocturne-like character, they use vastly different harmonic language. I highlight the continuous assimilation and evolution of Ponce’s numerous styles and influences.
Newsletter Publications
Internet Culture and Music | Research Connection
As the Internet continues to be an integral component of our lives, there are certain elements and trends in our online interactions that slowly converge into cyberculture. My goal as a composer was to take these elements of our virtual world and incorporate them into a traditional chamber music setting. This juxtaposition of cultures leads the way to new discussions about the future of music and the impact of technology in our lives. In my final composition recital called “Reflections of the Internet,” I presented eight chamber works that incorporate and explore some traits of this Internet culture.
Blog Articles
Thank You, Internet
In my teenage years, I was a compulsive music listener. I did not hesitate to spend my entire life savings (which for a 17-year old from Mexico was only around $200CAD) on buying an iPod Classic with 160 Gb of storage, for the purpose of keeping most of my music collection with me at all times. By then I had already accumulated a lofty 600 Gb of music on my hard drive, so I loved having a convenient and portable way of listening. [Read More]
Presentations
“The Humans and the Machine: Perceptual Differences Between Collective and Solo Performances.”
Upcoming publication, 2024. Invited to present at:
- 2022 IASPM XXI Conference in Daegu, South Korea.
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“The Online Composer-Audience Collaboration.”
Published, 2021. Invited to present at:
- Congress 2021, during the Canadian University Music Society (MusCan) annual conference at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB. This paper received the George Proctor Prize for original research in musical scholarship.
- IASPM-Canada 2021: “Big Sounds from Small Places”, organized by the International Association for the Study of Popular Music Canada at Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS.
- “Like, Share and Subscribe: YouTube, Music and Cyberculture Before and After the New Decade” organized by the Research Cluster in Music and Cyberculture (CysMus) of the Centre for the Study of Sociology and Aesthetics of Music (CESEM) in Lisbon, Portugal (2020)
- Innovation in Music 2019 Conference at the University of West London in London, UK.
- Carleton Music and Culture Symposium at Carleton University in Ottawa, ON.
- Research Gala: New Directions in Ethnomusicology and Musicology presented by the York University Music Program in Toronto, ON
“The Evolution of Style in Manuel M. Ponce’s Intermezzi.”
Unpublished, 2019. Invited to present at American Musicological Society - New York State/St. Lawrence Chapter (NYSSL) conference in Kingston, ON (2019).
“The Five Styles of Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Music.”
Unpublished, 2014. Invited to present during the 6th World Piano Conference in Novi Sad, Serbia (2014).
Mexican Contemporary Music Piano Recital.
Piano solo recital collaborating with the Center for Research and Musical Studies (CIEM) in Mexico City, premiering six works. Brandon, MB (2013).
“La Humanidad en la Música – un Acercamiento a la Música de Prokofiev”
[Humanity in Music – an Approach to Prokofiev’s Music]. Unpublished, 2012. Lecture Recitals in Aguascalientes, Mexico, funded by the FONCA Bursary for Studies Abroad (2012).
Other Projects
In the Archives, Music Director
Music producer and music director for the Bell MTS five short documentaries, In the Archives, directed by Tom Mitchell. All the episodes available online on this link.