We were lucky to catch up with Andrés González recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Andrés thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I recognize that I’m a lucky individual. I live in a city that has a sprawling and robust arts scene in which I’ve been able to flourish. When I graduated from Rice University, I took several auditions for competitive and highly desired orchestra jobs. Some went better than others, but in the end, I was not successful. In the meantime, however, I kept developing relationships in Houston that eventually turned into a very diverse and satisfying portfolio of work. Today, I perform with Mercury Chamber Orchestra, ROCO, Houston Grand Opera, Ars Lyrica Houston, and Houston Ballet Orchestra, to name a few. In addition to making great music, I also manage the education and community engagement programs for Mercury Chamber Orchestra, where I’ve been given an ideal platform from which to create meaningful connections between our musicians and students of diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds through full-time residencies in schools and develop performances that are curriculum based for kids K-8. It’s the sum of all these great opportunities that have provided me with a very satisfying and fulfilling life as a musician.

Andrés , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I began to play the violin at age seven in Caracas, Venezuela. It was there that I first fell in love with the instrument. At the time, I was a student at the Emil Friedman School, a school that not only had a Conservatory attached to it, but one that made musical education central to its curriculum. Although every elementary student was to take music theory and learn to play the recorder and the Cuatro (folkloric Venezuelan instrument), some of us would delve into more in-depth learning with an instrument of our choosing. To me, growing up in a place where everyone was making music on a daily basis seemed like the most natural and normal of things. By the time I turned 14, my parents decided to immigrate to the United States and settle in Miami, FL. While I went to an all arts school in Downtown Miami and was surrounded by students that shared the same passion as I did for my discipline, it quickly dawned on me that we were considered a special breed. I can say with all honesty that it has always bothered me that arts education is not more prevalent in our country, and what’s worse, there is even less of it in rural areas and city sections of lower economic means. Creative arts, I believe, are a defining human trait — the ability to forge an idea that is nascent in your mind and heart. It was with this in mind that I gladly (and proudly) took the position as Education and Community Engagement Program Manager at Mercury Chamber Orchestra. I’ve held this role now for close to nine years, and in that time the orchestra has established many residencies throughout Houston and the surrounding school districts. One of the reasons I believe our programs have been successful is that we do all we can to tailor our offerings to the needs of the school. It is really important that when we begin a new endeavor, we do so with what our partnering organization wants and needs for their community. My main objective still lies in what was seeded while growing up in Venezuela: to have access to an education rich in arts. However, I’m mindful of how we establish these new relationships and work to trace attainable and desired goals. Examples include finding music that goes beyond the realm of what is typical and established. Also, pairing a qualified and excellent musician with a community in which the young musicians can identify with. It is so satisfying to see young faces being inspired not only by the prowess our musicians demonstrate in the classrooms, but also that they see that they too have a path in which they can pursue music as a career.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Simple: the sheer joy I get while playing my violin for audiences or in classrooms throughout Houston. It’s truly thrilling to have such a variety of concerts to play on any given season. Anywhere from being part of world class opera productions (HGO), to performing Baroque music on period instruments (Mercury Chamber, Ars Lyrica), to premiering works by emerging and innovative composers (ROCO), to accompanying amazing dancers (Houston Ballet). I’ve even gotten the chance to act in a children’s play as Antonio Vivaldi (Ars Lyrica). Let me not overlook the fact that I’m surrounded by great colleagues that share in some of the same work that I do. People that I’ve grown to admire and love as family. All this while serving as the head of a robust education program (Mercury Chamber) that brings music to parts of our city that otherwise wouldn’t have access to. All in all, a very satisfying lifestyle.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

One thing I wish I had had more of was advice as a student on how to build a viable career. One spends so much time learning and focusing on how to master an instrument, such as the violin, that it is easy to get submerged in the work and not talk about what happens after you graduate. To begin with, graduation is not always synonymous with mastering your trade…in some cases, one continues that journey for years to come. But the conversation on how to fabricate a livelihood in the absence of a symphony or education job is one that I never got from my teachers. Instead, I was left to trying to figure things out all while traveling around the country auditioning for that elusive symphony job. Truth be told, it is extremely competitive and there are not enough openings for all of to earn a position. Which is why I feel so lucky to have all the work I’ve been able to muster throughout so many years now.

Contact Info:

• Youtube: https://youtu.be/MtvgUecUlP0?si=XbgAFo2ouZRnphvI
• LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/andr%C3%A9s-gonz%C3%A1lez-549197255
• Other: https://roco.org/artists/andres-gonzalez/ https://www.mercuryhouston.org/inschool-performances