I am a musician

that happens to be a composer, conductor, educator,

and I have a great advocacy for the arts

and living composers.

When I'm going to write a piece

whether it has a specific theme

or not, I have to feel the piece

I had to feel compelled to write that piece.

So I get into that space and

once I am into that space

I start hearing, in my mind, fractions that

perhaps may have something to do with a piece

and I travel around with a pad and

I jot down the sketch of that moment

and then that is that my process start.

I think that the whole thing is already internal.

You see, so I start writing and

and the technique manifests inside

of the writing. Once I see the sketches and

once I think of the piece I go to the piano

and then I might check, you know,

specifically the harmonies

and what will be the sonic background —

whether it is vertical or horizontal.

Also my intuition gets involved with

so it's not only intellectual but it's also intuition

because if I don't feel the piece I'm not so happy.

For "Project 19" I have created a piece called "Stride"

and it is a piece written in the memory of Susan B. Anthony

because of her courage and because in my

imagination I saw this woman from a century ago

moving forward like nobody's business.

I mean it was such a force.

Drive to me means inner courage

it's like talking to the self

something that we do internally

and there's this blind faith about doing something

when perhaps those that are

around you might not believe you can do it.

That is precisely why I selected the

title of the piece as "Stride,"

because you move forward no matter what.

"Stride" has it's all moving forward flow.

"Stride" for me was this gigantic woman

you know with very big legs walking,

no matter what.

In the piece, there's a section that I try to do that:

propel move with percussion,

mixed with trumpets.

And the thing is that the piece doesn't end

it continues because it's very fluid.

My voice as a composer

is the sum total of my experiences.

I was born in an island and I need water.

My spirit needs water.

To have silence or to have space, it's very important

to quiet my soul and

to get more clarity about what I need to do

and perhaps how to do it.

With "Stride" I feel courage

that inner force that one may have inside

that says "keep going."