Why the Viola??

Thinking on the thousand topics that I would love to share in this blog, I realize that they will not be meaningful if I do not share why the Viola is an important part of my life and how I arrive on this journey.

I grew up in Bogota, Colombia, a capital where you have access to hundreds of cultures, points of view, and life pathways. The musical journey began with my parents' desire to show me a little bit of everything when I was really young, I played tennis, and skating, had painting lessons, and of course music classes. The program that I was part of was focused on social development through the Orchestral System. Batuta is its name, it is still one of the biggest programs in the country. I began on Violin because my school was focused just on strings, the cello and bass were huge for me when I was 9 and the Viola was a little bit stigmatized but that time. I began my studies in a group setting, meeting some of my still close friends but also incredible mentors that believed in the power of music. As the journey kept going, I felt that the violin was not truly my voice and I considered doing a completely different career outside music. But without expecting it, one of my close friends had a viola and wanted to keep sharing music with me as part of the preparatory school at the Nacional Conservatory of Colombia. At the beginning, I was a little skeptical because at that time my approach to the viola was so vague. My family was not professionally musically trained and I did not know what I will be facing. I remember like it was yesterday the first time a have to read on alto clef in survival mode counting lines and spaces, It was terrifying but with time and dedication, turns out pretty well, I used to feel that I had a superpower.

After the decision to focus my life on exploring the Viola, I realize that the Viola world is really magic, I fell in love with my instrument sound and my fellow violists sharing the strong desire to grow together. Something that unfortunately I did not experience in my early years. I was accepted in the Nacional Conservatory and everything begins to make sense. It took me some time to realize that the struggles that I had with my instrument were in many ways fully attached to my struggles in life. I passed phases of obsession in practice that were not always efficient because I was not paying attention to my personal life. That was the first big lesson, without life there is no music to grow.

Now that I see the journey with more objective eyes, I realize that the Viola has been my partner in growth, every challenging situation with my instrument has given me the answer to solve my own personal challenges, As I grow as a person, I grow as a musician and the viola has been literally the instrument that helps me to overcome a lot of stages in life.

The Viola is not an acoustically perfect instrument, like any person in the world is the same. Exploring the Viola on her uniqueness, has given me the biggest lesson of exploring myself in the same way to everyday improve my well-being.

Of course, there has being hard times when I don’t feel great and my viola reflects it with poor sound or lack of precision, it is just a resemblance of what I am facing in my thoughts and heart. But in the same way, I have had the most beautiful moments where my personal growth is reflected in my viola and I could not be more grateful for the life path that I chose.

Now that I keep working on exploring the musical world through my viola, the art of teaching has become a crucial part of this process, being able to share the opportunity to grow through the Viola with the new generations is my way to express gratitude for all the wonderful experiences I have had until now.

Now that I share a little bit of the beginning of my musical path, You will be curious to know what are some of the life aspects that my viola has taught me,  that could be a complete series of new blogs, but for now, I what to say that It has been the tool number one to bring me balance among self-love, compassion, empathy, and body awareness.

Thank you for reading until here and I hope to see you in the future growing together on this musical journey. 🎻