composing himself

BY CHRIS TEBBETTS

on’t call Jorge Martin a Cuban-bom gay Vennont classical com-

poser. Do ask him about his background, his heritage, and what he
loves about music. Don’t expect Jorge to talk himself into any comers. Do
expect him to surprise you.

“I think one of the reasons I resist this idea of essentialism,” he says, “is that
it negates the power of the imagination. When you say, ‘I can’t imagine being
anything beyond my little square,’ I think that’s really poor. I want to imagine
things outside of my little square...I want to be broad, to exercise my imagi-
nation and draw people into it.” i

His latest composition, Romance, was commissioned by the Vermont
Symphony Orchestra for their annual Made in Vennont tour, with perfor-
mances around the state this September and October. Romance is 12 minutes
long, and written for a ‘Mozart-sized’ (approximately 30 piece) orchestra,
making a tour to smaller spaces more feasible. It is also geared to a broad audi-
ence. “There’s always this fear that when you-commission a piece of modern
music, it’s going to be difiicult and ugly,” says Martin. “So I was told it had to

be accessible. So I wrote an accessible piece."

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Jorge
  Martin

OCTOBEFL99