Music tells stories

1996

“A very exotic instrument will arrive in the city that almost no one knows about” Professor Wilson Berrío said to his students at the Belén Rincón Music School, located in Commune 16 of Medellín. “It is very difficult to play, it requires a lot of study and effort”, the teacher continued explaining, to whom some young students did not pay attention or a good face.

Juan Fernando Muñoz, was nine years old and although he had a clarinet, he wanted to take on that challenge that the teacher insisted on. But Juan was not the only one, one of his companions looked attentively at Wilson, surely she had also been captivated by the instrument he boasted about. The teacher, not knowing what to do, told his two students that they should assign it to luck, and the best option was a heads and tails.

“We were traveling on a bus, and the teacher threw the coin into his hands. Surprise! When the driver brakes, the coin falls to the ground and runs through the entire vehicle; All of our classmates ran after her to see who had won the instrument…and in the end I won.”, recalls with emotion Juan Fernando, who has been a member of Filarmed since 2016, as assistant principal oboe and English horn.

Juan Fernando grew up in music, and like almost all the instrumentalists in the city, he began his studies at the Medellín Music School Network. At first he wanted saxophone, but the places had already been sold out and consequently he was assigned the clarinet, although he practiced it with a lot of love, luck and life destined him for the oboe. The oboe is a musical instrument of the woodwind family, with a conical bore, whose sound is emitted through the vibration of a double reed that acts as a conduit for the air blow. Its timbre is characterized by a penetrating, mordant and somewhat nasal sound, sweet, very expressive.

More music and oboe reeds

“And it really was difficult. At that time it was a very rare instrument, there were only two in the city, almost no one knew it, it always caused curiosity in the ranks.", assures Juan Fernando who, from the first day he used the instrument, his hands adapted perfectly to it, even better than with the clarinet.

The instrumentalist says that the oboe is similar to the clarinet, but they differ technically, especially because of the reed. The clarinet uses a single reed mouthpiece, while the oboe uses a double reed to generate vibration and produce sound.

Professional oboists create their own reeds to their size and preference. In addition, they allow the musician to control factors such as sound and tuning with the instrument.

The most complex thing is getting used to the reed, it does not require as much air as, for example, happens with the tuba; The oboe depends on the pressure and speed of the air, even the temperature, another of the complexities of the instrument is getting its reeds. It is said that an oboe reed costs up to six times more than a clarinet reed. “And then I realized that oboists are the ones who make their own reeds. Currently I produce them myself, both for myself and for my students with supplies imported from Germany and France.”, explains Juan Fernando, who has the necessary machinery to build a rod and it can take up to an hour and a half to manufacture.

Juan Fernando currently lives in the San Pablo neighborhood of Medellín, he is 34 years old. For him, when it comes to humanizing the oboe, I would say that he is a temperamental person, and somewhat bipolar, who can bring out his most beautiful feelings, but from one moment to the next he can be rough and strong in character. He has a kind, happy and expressive personality, he is even quite elegant. Perhaps some of these characteristics are a reflection of the personality of the musician in this story. He says that he has had four oboes, he currently owns one that Filarmed acquired.

“In addition to exciting, the role of music is to unite. Making music is like submerging yourself in water, it is a different sensation, it is belonging to a new world...What is captured in the score goes straight to my heart; That is, if I have to express sadness, joy or another state of mind, I try to catch all this so I can transmit it with music. If you don't take ownership of what you want to express, the audience won't understand it.". Juan Fernando Muñoz, oboist

Musician or lawyer?

Before undertaking his university studies, Juan Fernando wanted to have an introduction to the conservatory; Thanks to the Network he was sent to study in Venezuela for a couple of months. Upon his return to Colombia, he began his undergraduate studies at the EAFIT University and the University of Antioquia under the teaching of Paul Henry Fishler.

At 16 years old he had a career crisis, he didn't know if it was really what he wanted, he decided to take a break and left university. “I spent a couple of years finding myself again, looking to see if it was truly what I wanted; but I always had the oboe in my heart, I left studying music and started studying law, I wanted to be a criminal lawyer.”

But his passion for the art world helped him find his true calling, returning to music! Since then, he has been a guest oboist of the UNAB Symphony Orchestra, and was also a member of the Colombian Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, participating in its tour in Brazil under the tutorship of Frances Colón and the direction of Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Between 2013 and 2015 he was principal oboist of the Symphonic Band of the University of Antioquia. He has played as a soloist with the EAFIT Universidad Symphonic Orchestras, the Symphonic Band of the University of Antioquia and Filarmed. In addition, he is an oboe professor at Iberacademy and EAFIT University.

Enrich Filarmed's life

“Music allows you to get closer to many places and people. On the Internet I had my first international exposure in the first tours of Spain and Italy, which opened new doors for me. There I understood that it is not the one who studies the most, but the one who studies intelligently…”, emphasizes Juan Fernando.

In 2013 he won the position of second oboe and English horn of the EAFIT University Symphony Orchestra, where he remained until 2016, the year in which he won the position of assistant principal oboe and English horn of Filarmed.

In 2018 he began studies at the National Academy of Oboes and in 2019 he completed his master's studies at the Conservatori Liceu in Barcelona under the tutorship of Cesar Altur de los Mozos and Daniel Fuster.

There he shared experiences with the members of the Gran Teatro del Liceu Symphony Orchestra; even some performances with several colleagues who had incredible talent and from whom he learned a lot musically. “I arrived there with a rod of a style and color that I liked, but I remember a very talented colleague who opened the world to other possibilities, she suggested a new style to me. Additionally, I had the opportunity to play with several orchestras. “I won a competition that allowed me to work with the Vallés Symphony Orchestra,” remembers the musician.

For Juan Fernando, performing the traditional music of a territory is an experience “incredible and enriching”, allows you to generate new colors, sensations, face new technical challenges, you even played flamenco and double steps. He also remembers with emotion when he was a guest musician of the Santa Cecilia Classical Orchestra, in which he played oratorical passion Passion according to Saint Matthew by JS Bach, written to be performed by soloists, choirs and double orchestra, for more than two and a half hours! It is the composer's most extensive work.

“My goal was to acquire all that experience in Europe and perfect my technique to bring all that learning back to Filarmed”, expresses the oboist.