The most embarrassing thing i'm willing to admit.

 

 

 

It is difficult to remember embarrassing situations, they are things that one forgets as time goes by, but remembering, I remember two moments in which I think I have made a fool of myself without wanting to hahaha. Both situations happened at school, in 7th and 8th grade. And in both, my classmates were making fun of me for a long time, although I always took that with humor. The first was in 7th grade, there they had to dance “La Piragua”, a traditional Colombian cumbia. The PE teachers didn't guide us so well on how to dance it, just a general one. I always liked dancing, and I remember practicing it with my mother since she did know how to dance it. The result was hilarious for my classmates, since I had to dance I moved my hips too much, it was too loose to dance, and for that reason they started saying “Shakiro” hahaha. I see that very funny nickname. The second embarrassing situation was for an eighth grade, in a music class presentation. There with my group we played “Californication” by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Maybe, the group did not sound bad, but I am aware that I did not reach the tones "properly" hahaha. Apparently at that time my voice was changing, and it was hard for me to reach high tones. As a result of that presentation, everyone in the school began to tell me “El Californication”. I think this time the nickname did bother me, since it was somewhat exposed (and the teacher did not guide well how to sing it either). So at the end of the year I decided to attend a 4th high school degree, there I played classical guitar music, which is what I was studying at that time. My classmates and teachers congratulated me very much on that presentation, and after that they forgot the nicknames hahaha.

My favourite concert: Radiohead 2018

 

  

I have gone to many concerts, of different styles, and each one has marked something important in my musical development, it has moved me and inspired me. But if I have to choose a specific concert, for the impact and emotion it produced in me, I choose the 2018 Radiohead concert at the Estadio Nacional. When they first came to Chile, in 2009, I was just 14 years old and I didn't know much about rock. I remember that on the day of the concert they were broadcasting many of his songs on the radio, ¡and at that moment I was very sorry not discovered them sooner! I became a fan of them. Since then I have been waiting for their return every year. When they released the King of Limbs I had high hopes, but finally with the A Moon Shaped Pool tour I was able to hear them live, and it really is unforgettable. They played many of my favorite songs; Pyramid Song, Street Spirts, and Nude for example. It was an incredible concert. They played 9 encores even !. Once the concert was over, the crowd in the streets made it very difficult to take the subway or bus, so I decided to go to Nataniel Cox, and from there take a bus home. I was so euphoric to have listened to Radiohead that I ran and jogged about 50 blocks! I was very happy at the time, and both the concert and the return home are one of the most beautiful memories I have until now.

A country I would like to visit.

 

 

The first country I would like to visit is Japan. I know it is difficult to be there due to the difficulty of the language, but it is a country that attracts my attention. I consider its culture and traditions very interesting. This is so for two reasons, the first is because I quite like anime and manga. It is incredible how a country (in addition to the US) has been able to influence the cultural and entertainment world of so many generations worldwide thanks to this art. The stories that can be found there deal with all kinds of topics, in fact many animes are cataloged for adults due to the complex content they address. Also, the stories in the anime and manga are set in very beautiful places in Japan that I would like to see. Besides, I would like to travel to Japan for work purposes. Since I am a classical guitarist, it would be ideal for me to travel there and dedicate myself to giving concerts of Latin American music, and my own compositions. I have been told that Japanese people have a great interest in music, to the guitar, and especially in Latin American culture, and for that reason I think it could be a good place to work as a musician giving concerts or guitar lessons.

Agustín Barrios "Mangoré" - An expert on my field.

 

 

Because music is my field of activity, specifically classical guitar performance, I have decided to talk about a guitarist and composer named Agustín Barrios “Mangoré”. This guitarist was born in 1885, in Paraguay and died in 1944, in El Salvador. His father was Argentine, but from the side of his mother he had Guarani bloodline. He is one of the most important figures in paraguayan culture and also in Latin America. He traveled through many countries and cities in Latin America, where he learned and rescued traditional dances and songs from almost all Latin American countries. His musical language is a mixture of Latin American folk music and European classical music. His concert programs included both the music of Bach and Beethoven, as well as his own compositions and folkloric pieces. It became known throughout Latin America under the pseudonym “Nitsuga Mangoré”, “Nitsuga” by Agustín written backwards, and “Mangoré” in honor of a legendary Guaraní cacique. In his research to represent his culture, Mangoré even costumed himself as a Guaraní indigenous for his concerts.

Agustín Barrios Mangoré is currently one of the most played composer by classical guitarists worldwide. His work includes around 300 pieces for solo guitar, for example, dances, preludes, studies and fantasies. In my opinion, he is one of the most important figures in the history of Latin American music and the guitar, because he transcended to the present day thanks to his investigative work, collecting folk music and taking it to the top of the culture. He is an artist and a role model that I greatly admire, and my personal project about music is inspired in Barrios, because I want to perform latinoamerican music, create a mixture of folclore and classical music, write my owns compositions, and rescue the typical music of us culture, similar to what Barrios did.

My childhood series

 

 

 

I remember when I was a child, the first cartoon I became a fan was Dragon Ball. It was transmitted on the national channels, and I didn't miss any chapter. Even, with my dad we tried to record the movies on VHS. Goku was a hero to me. I remember since I was kid playing to train some kind of martial art in the backyard of my house. I was such a fan of Goku that for a birthday of a friend I dressed up like him.

A few years later, with the arrival of Cable TV to my house, I began to see the Cartoon Networks and Nickelodeon cartoons. My favorites were Courage the Cowardly Dog and Cat-Dog. The stories in these cartoons were very rare, but I really liked the colors and the atmosphere created. Especially Courage, looking at it from my current point of view, I could consider this cartoon as surreal, due to the impossible of certain stories and the strangeness of the characters.

During my adolescence, I began to like Japanese cartoons or anime again, and at that time my favorite was Hunter X. I remember that after school I always rushed home to see it. Currently, in fact, I am still seeing this type of drawing, in series and movies. I find that it is quite an art, and Hayao Miyazaki's films are an admirable example of what a drawing can express.

 

The Story of a Picture

This picture was taken in Chiloé, exactly 2 years ago. In this picture we can see my colleagues from the Cuarteto Movimientos, guitar quartet which we formed in 2016. Together we have performed in various stages and theaters in Santiago, also in nearby towns such as Paine or Peñaflor. But we had never come as far from home as that time. This picture is from the educational concerts tour we did together, which started in Temuco, passing through Valdivia, then Puerto Montt and ending in Castro, all in one week.

I remember it was very exciting, because we were able to stay in incredible places like palafitos, share with school students and eat a lot of typical food from the south of the country. This entire tour was financed with the support of the National Music Fund and the entire itinerary was managed by a producer, Khalo, who is also a musician and he was the person who took this photo of us on stage.

I love this photo, it brings me back good memories of these concerts, nostalgia and wishes to perform again, soon as the quarantine is over.

My pets

At home, we have always had and took many cats and dogs in. My family loves animals, and it is a tradition to be sharing with them. Currently our partners are four; Chimuelo and Ginger are the cats of the house. Agnes and Tata are our dogs. All of them have come to the house because my sister, who is a veterinarian, has brought them. 

One of them is Ginger,  who has been at the house the longest, she arrived very small, just a few months old, and she is now around 5 years old. She is a very grumpy cat, and she is not very sociable, neither with humans nor with animals. Almost at the same time, Agnes came to our lives also with a few months old. At that time she was very small, smaller than a shoe. Now it is very large, when she is standing, she measures almost 1.50 meters. She is very playful and sweet. 

A few months later Chimuelo arrived. He is very shy and calm. We all love hugging him and giving him kisses, because he is very furry and soft, and fortunately he lets us do that, unlike Ginger, who rarely allows it. The last to arrive is Tata, I gave him that name because when he arrived at the house he was already old. This dog was rescued by my sister near a place where they were doing greyhound racing. Apparently, his older owners abandoned him, probably because he could no longer run like young dogs. I couldn't imagine a daily routine without being able to greet my fellow cats and dogs every morning.