On the Other Side

2 2 2 2, 2 2 0 0, 2 Perc, Timp. Strings. (2019)

This work is based on the music for my multimedia collaboration with video and dance titled “39 Inside.” The collaboration tells the story of 39 undocumented migrants found inside a trailer-truck in a parking lot in San Antonio, TX during the scorching summer of 2017. Witnesses tell that there were close to a hundred people in the trailer, most of them left before police arrived. The ones who were found were extremely weak, suffocated, and dehydrated. Eight of them were dead.

This orchestral version lacks the audiovisual components of video, dance, text and interactive electronics. Nevertheless, it holds most of the musical elements. The introduction is meant to take us inside the trailer when the migrants were found evoking the lack of air, fear, and the quietness. The rhythmic section is meant to put us on the road, driving north, away from the border. We hear soloists among the crowd that tell their stories. The final section has music that is both quiet and turbulent, representing the internal thoughts and dreams of the migrants contrasted by the inevitability of the tragic ending. 

Here’s another take on the piece, this time a reading that took place with the Houston Orchestra. This all happened thanks to the incredible support of the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and the Earshot program. Find more info here.