Memoirs of a Damned (4)

Academic Training

As we mentioned earlier, I started out in the school rondalla. Mr. Pedro Álvarez Hidalgo saw talent in me and recommended that my parents enroll me at the Cádiz Conservatory. These years of my childhood and adolescence were recorded in two albums: 9 momentos inolvidables + 1 sentimiento infantil (9 Unforgettable Moments + 1 Childish Feeling) and De vuelta a casa (Back Home).

My time at the music center located on El Tinte Street in Cádiz, in the heart of the city, had its bittersweet moments. I fondly remember Miss Carmen Ortega and Miss Itziar Elorza, Miss Pepita, as we called our music theory teacher, and, with less fervor, Mr. Rafael Prieto. A man very much from the post-Franco era, who ended my dream of dedicating myself to the piano. I had to take the fourth grade piano class three times after my father almost begged me to, but he wasn't moved. I fondly remember Miss Rosario, the private teacher on Pelota Street, whom my parents turned to in their attempt to get me into the third grade, the Elementary Grade in piano. During those years, a young composer from Cádiz named Felipe Campuzano was a success. He was seen at the Conservatory, along with a fellow student who became a conductor and teacher: José Manuel López Aranda, whom I would meet years later. Of my classmates, I fondly remember Saturnino and Pedro Ordóñez, Marcos, Trini, and Chari (my first platonic love).

Studying at the Conservatory in those years was for rich kids (although my poor father sacrificed his time and effort to achieve this goal. I could never repay it).

My academic musical life suffered a hiatus of almost ten years. There was a second unsuccessful attempt when the Conservatory moved to Arbolí Street.

My training then took a different path. The University of Cádiz offered a music major in primary school, and I enrolled there.

Since it was a new training program, I had a lot of work to do and struggled with the core subjects. The experience was enriching for my classmates, whom I call my second siblings.

In this sense, they were unforgettable years. My relationship with the teachers wasn't quite like that. I have special memories of some and less so of others. I didn't have a teacher who was a role model in my personal or musical life.

Sutddent card Cádiz University

Before entering university, I began a continuum of online studies.

The Open University, Sacle, was ahead of its time with a music course that helped me enormously, but sadly lacked contact with visible teachers.

My determination, combined with other studies, led me to the Conservatory, now located in the current Carnival Museum, next to Torre Tavira. Those almost two years left a profound mark on me. I reconnected with Itziar (who, of course, didn't remember me), and she gave me invaluable support and friendship, as well as in-depth conversations that were even more enriching, if possible, due to her mastery as a pianist. From Toni, with his grueling Music Language classes with students from those studios (that's when I realized for the first time I was in the wrong place); from Esteban, the choir teacher with his unique personality and expert knowledge of his work; and from my reunion with Aranda and an old friend from Puerto Real who was now teaching harmony, Ángel. That stage was a huge challenge. My vision was in such a terrible state that I was almost unable to read sheet music. I practically had to memorize it, and that was a huge obstacle.

For me, those wonderful grades from my beloved teachers (as a term encompassing all its meanings) seemed exaggerated, and in my constant and obsessive desire for improvement, I came to meet the person from whom I have learned the most about music: Luis Félix Parodi.

Parodi was a refuge during very difficult times in my personal life. He was my private teacher, but also my confessor. I learned to understand Haydn's sonatas with him, to delve into Scriabin's works and that indelible phrase: never cease to be yourself in performance. Those fruitful years for the soul were cut short, because that's how it had to be, when my personal life took a 180-degree turn on the way to Brazil.