I’ve been holed up in the recording studio the last month finishing up Gracia! Below is a picture of me in the last day in the mixing studio, with our wonderful editor Eli Lishinsky:
It’s been an extraordinary couple of weeks for me, and I’m happy to report that the final mixes were just delivered to me this past Friday. This essentially means that the recording process is now complete!! The final step of mastering will happen next week. In the meantime, now that I have the final mixes in hand, it’s been a good time to reflect on the last few songs I’ve tackled. I saved some of the most meaningful songs for last...
Two weeks ago was my father’s birthday; he would have been 67. He passed away far too soon over 20 years ago, but his influence on my life, and my music, remains with me every day. My father was not Sephardic and never lived to see my passion for Ladino culture grow, but I credit him for teaching me so much of what I know about music. Below is a picture of me and my father at one of our favorite places in the world— Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts, otherwise known as the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
I really got my musical start at Tanglewood, where my family has been going since I was even younger than in this picture. My father’s love of classical music was instilled in me as a little girl, and I was inspired by one of my father’s favorite pieces of music, a Mendelssohn violin concerto (in E minor, opus 64....but who’s taking note), in the song I saved last to finish.
This song, "Tu Portret," is an original I composed, set to a poem by one of my mentors in the Ladino field, Matilda Koen-Sarano. After my father passed away, I wore a locket with his picture in it for many years after. This song is about pleading with that picture to come back at least to say a proper good bye. Needless to say, it was a difficult song to write, but has quickly became one of my favorites. The song is filled with many other memories— both happy and sad— that make it one of the most emotional on the album. I know my father would be very proud that his musical legacy (among many other of his wonderful qualities) still lives on in me...
So with 11 tracks under our belts, this closes the “mixing” stage of Gracia’s production. Next up is mastering!! The next update you’ll hear from me will be when the CD is mastered and on its way to being manufactured. I promise to include a celebratory song clip then! I look forward to reporting back in just a short couple of weeks with great news of the CD’s release...