Edna Alejandra Longoria is a San Antonio composer with roots in the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico. Her musical journey began when she was in elementary school and asked her mom for piano lessons. She continued to play and tinker with music until college, when she switched from a major in architecture to music, studying at UTSA under David Heuser, Kasandra Keeling, and James Syler. TPR’s Nathan Cone invited Longoria to our studios to share her music, and speak about working as a composer in South Texas.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
On sharing her culture through music
I love my culture. And when I was younger, I used to listen to a lot of Latin music with my grandpa. So one of my grandpas is the one that basically, I guess, opened my mind to improvising things and loving art. When he passed away, I was in sixth grade. So I feel like now, I that's part of my inspiration. Every time I write rhythmic stuff, very Latin, it makes me think of those times, and it just makes me happy. And I think that's one of the big reasons why I enjoy it so much.
On taking a non-musical job to help with finances
I just got married last year… [and] one of our goals as a married couple was to travel a lot. I was making it just as a teacher and a composer, but I always had to make sure I didn't spend too much on this or that, you know? I couldn't afford traveling to go hear my music [performed]. So now I don't have to worry about that [with my current job]. Maybe it depends on what you want to do. If you want to travel, you want to do all this, maybe you do need another type of a job… or maybe you can be the next John Williams or Hans Zimmer!
On working with the Classical Music Institute
CMI basically took me under their wing, since I graduated. And they're so supportive of my career. Every year I try to have like small pieces for the kids [at their summer workshops], because usually the musicians that they get, the little ones, they've never played an instrument before.
So every year they play my pieces. And this year they're also going to play, I think, three of my short pieces for a great one. So I'm looking forward to that. But yeah, I just wanted to give a big shout out to CMI. They're very supportive towards minorities. And it's really cool to see how kids get... They get excited when they see that there's someone like them [composing or performing]… It's just very inspiring.
Check out more of Edna Alejandra Longoria's work at her website, and follow her on Instagram.
