written for Abigail Pak "La Coreañera", Brian Messier, and the Dartmouth Wind Ensemble
World premiere of first movement at UNAM's Sala Nezahualcóyotol in CDMX (March 2023)
Artwork for the digital release on platforms - Painting, "Veleta" by Francisco Muóz. Graphic Design by Mercedes Quezada.
Onda tropical is a concerto for diatonic accordion and wind ensemble, composed by Rodrigo Martinez Torres for Abigail Pak and the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble, Dr. Brian Messier, conductor. Abigail and Rodrigo met during their respective first terms at Dartmouth College—Abigail as an undergraduate studying linguistics and Roy in the first year of his masters of fine arts in sonic practice—and built a friendship built upon their mutual love of cumbia sonidera, an urban dance genre made popular in Mexico. Onda Tropical literally translates to “Tropical Wave,” but there are three interpretations of the word onda that inform the work. First, the piece transmits a tropical vibe amidst the cold weather of Hanover, New Hampshire, where the work was composed. Second, the work alludes to the sonidero culture, where Mexicans in the US would ask cumbia DJs to send warm regards to their loved ones back in Mexico via radio waves. Third, the work is composed in musical waves, with the musical tide becoming louder, faster, and more tropical. The concerto is structured in three movements played without pause: Rebajado, Cristalino, and Rayado. The first movement is a slow rendition of a cumbia, taking its time to explore the colors and chords of the cumbia material. The second movement alludes to the suspension of time experienced when seeing the glaring, shimmering lights on the surface of the ocean during the last minutes of the day (resolana, in Spanish). The third movement’s tempo translates as “broken,” referring to a beloved record that has been listened to so much that the playback begins to deteriorate. Onda tropical was commissioned by Brian Messier and The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth with co-commissioners The Yale Concert Band, The Keene State College Concert Band, and the The Concord-Carlisle Concert Band.
University of Houston, UH Wind Ensemble (May 2023)
Yale University, Yale College Band (October 2024)
Jordan Hall - New England Conservatory, DCWE (November 2024)