To conduct an orchestra, in addition to having extensive musical training, general culture and techniques to achieve a coherent and orderly performance, you must know how to guide to convey emotions through melodies.
Orchestral conducting is one of the great passions of Pedro David Ortiz Ramírez, the only man from Pinar del Río currently studying this specialty at the Higher Institute of Art in Havana.
Apart from being a third-year orchestra conducting student, Pedro is studying violin in his second year at the same institution. Despite the effort and sacrifice involved in leading two careers in unison, this young man from the cast Camilo Cienfuegos (Villamil) of the capital of Pinar del Río, assures that music is his reason for being.
What motivated you to study music?
“Motivation is a very important word for me, I think it is the one that governs a large part of my professional and personal life. What led me to music was an innate feeling, I can’t imagine another profession in my mind other than that. People who really know me know that I am more than my everything ”.
He says that his family is full of musicians, and although some are not professionals, that environment has surrounded him since childhood.
“My mother is a Solfeggio teacher and for more than 20 years she worked at the Vocational School of Art (currently the Professional School of Art). My dad is a faithful defender and lover of music and always supports me. Thanks to him and her I am here today and I do what I do, they are the ones who guide me at all times ”.
Why did you choose classical music and especially conducting?
“I chose the music, whatever its denomination and classification. It is true that I leaned more towards the classical call, and it is because I have always developed easily in the medium, in addition to that since I began to study it was what was played, which includes study programs.
“With regard to the orchestral conducting I think it suits my character. More than directing I like to guide masses, move feelings, transmit through music notions and expressions beyond understanding and that go beyond the sensorial plane, I think that is what a director does and that is why directing is one of my great passions ”.
Tell me about your academic training.
“I started with the violin at the Vocational School of Art in Pinar del Río in third grade, that was my foundation. I had great teachers. That was where I really learned to be disciplined and responsible with any task. Already in high school I began to be interested in directing. At that time, the school had a children’s symphony orchestra and on occasions it led, I thank professors Jasiel and Cristóbal Salgas for that ”.
After the exam corresponding to the level pass, Pedro began a double career at the National School of Music in the specialty of Violin. In 2017 he graduated with a Gold Degree.
“Many are the memories of the ENA, from receiving master classes from important figures such as Leo Brouwer, Jorge López Marín (currently my teacher of Orchestral Conducting at ISA), to playing in orchestras under the direction of great teachers such as Guido López-Gavilán and Zenaida Romeu, among others ”.
He was also one of the violinists who made up the orchestra that accompanied the Puerto Rican singer Olga Tañón at her concert in Havana.
After successfully passing the entrance exams to the Higher Institute of Art in the specialty of Violin and Orchestral Conducting, he was among the nine chosen that year in Violin and the only one selected for Orchestral Conducting.
“From the first year I went on to direct the orchestra of the Paulita Concepción elementary school of music in the capital until today. I have been part of orchestras as a violinist and I have occasionally served as an assistant conductor in the process of assembling concerts for different festivals, commemorations and presentations ”.
The violin, the direction, which is more difficult for you?
“I consider both the violin and conducting to be difficult professions. In conducting you have to know from music to psychology, ethics, morals and even how to treat people, and in the violin you also have to be very exquisite with purely technical details, be it the tuning, the expression, the interpretation, the presentation , taste and common sense, passing through respect and discipline ”.
What do you prefer, touch or direct?
“I feel like I have to do both equally, although in the future I know that to be really good I must choose one. When I play the violin I feel in Nirvana and when I lead I elevate my soul towards the sublime of music.
“I believe that every musician needs to exercise direction as long as his conditions allow it and for the conductor it is essential to master at least one instrument, so that his development is complete.”
You have an orchestra, who makes it up, what is the repertoire?
“The Sturm und Drang orchestra (Storm and Impetus, named for the artistic, philosophical, literary movement of the 19th century) is a very nice project with colleagues and friends, long-time brothers, all from Pinar, graduates of the Upper Middle level, excellent professionals, we get along like a family and really working with them is extremely wonderful.
“We are dedicated to the interpretation of all kinds of music, from classical to popular, without taboos or distinctions. We intend to achieve a greater enrichment of the artistic level in the province, but the main objective, and which I believe should be that of a conductor, is to achieve a social impact through music.
“We held a debut concert in October. Due to the epidemiological situation, the presentations have been interrupted, but we are working on new ideas that will appear soon through virtual platforms and we hope to be able to be on stages in the province in a larger format so that the public can appreciate works from the 18th century to the XXI ”.
How do you see the development of classical music in Pinar del Río?
“Classical music in Pinar del Río is not visible or palpable, perhaps in force in lesser proportions with an accompanying orchestra of the” Lírico “, with a Provincial Band and a Municipal Concert Band, with a typical orchestra, a polyphonic choir.
“Sometimes it is not given the due importance and notoriety that each of the aforementioned groups has and this is what leads to classical music in the province having so little diffusion and visibility.
“It is necessary to lay the foundations, to lay the foundations for later to be able to solidify a long process such as concert music. Development entails changes and for these to exist, ideas and actions are required that let us know what we are and what we are looking for ”.
What projects do you have, dreams, aspirations?
“There are thousands of projects in my head. For now I intend to focus only on my studies and my career as a musician, either as a conductor or as a violinist.
“As for dreams, I would like one day to play in the great orchestras of the world and be invited to conduct anywhere, from operas to concerts. My dream is that music is always my driving force.
“Above all, I aspire not to be mediocre or irrelevant in what I do, not to lack character and not to be self-centered and self-sufficient. To be a better person, to be at peace with me. Those are my goals, the rest after reaching the proposed is subjective ”.
–
