We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aida De Moya. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aida below.
Alright, Aida thanks for taking the time to share your experience and achievements with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I have had incredible opportunities along the way which I am incredibly humbled and grateful for. Since the moment I started my path in music and until today as a professional I’ve had the opportunity to perform both in the Dominican Republic and the United States, presenting my own projects as well as supporting other exceptional colleagues in various forms. As an arranger, I have collaborated in productions that included both Latin Grammy and Grammy Award nominees and winners including the Brazilian superstar and guitarist Toninho Horta, the exceptional Paquito D’Rivera, as well as the renowned Berta Rojas, Arturo Sandoval, and Maria Creuza. They have allowed me to take part in their musical adventures and to explore the depths and versatility of my own musical expression.
One of my favorites to this date was collaborating with the wonderful Berta Rojas and Paquito D’Rivera who performed a concert in Boston, in which I was able to arrange and conduct three out of five pieces they were to perform with strings, woodwinds, brass and rhythm section. The turnaround for this project was very fast as I was involved in other productions at the time so it really required a lot of focus and attention to detail. It was incredibly fun to work on these pieces and to see their reaction to what I had done with the charts. Two of these pieces where D’Rivera’s originals who is not only an incredible performer but also a formidable composer, so it was truly an honor to be involved in this production and hear these musicians of great caliber play anything I had written. I learned a lot from them and from this particular experience, which ended up opening other doors for me as an arranger.
Aida, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a guitarist, composer, and arranger, originally from the Dominican Republic. My compositions blend elements of Jazz and Brazilian music with folkloric components from my native country. My musical endeavors began at the Institute of Culture and Arts (ICA) in Santiago, where I studied both classical piano and guitar. Music quickly became my safe haven as an introvert, a space in which I could create or become anything. This passion for music led me to the prestigious National Conservatory of Music (CNM) where I continued my studies in Jazz and Classical Guitar with amazing professors and peers. It was during my early semesters there when I boldly competed for a scholarship that would ultimately lead me to two of the most prestigious schools of music in the world – Berklee College of Music, where I obtained my B.M. in Jazz Composition and Performance, and the New England Conservatory, where I graduated with a Masters in Jazz Studies.
While in Boston, I was honored to receive several awards including the Emily Remler, Tadd Dameron, and Clare Fischer Awards from Berklee’s esteemed Jazz Composition and Guitar departments, as well as being a selected winner of the Jazz Education Network’s Young Composers Showcase. I was able to perform my own music with incredible musicians from around the world and to support some of them as a guitarist, and as an arranger for their own projects.
When I moved to Los Angeles in 2021, I was uncertain of how life would play out. As a musician, one needs to wear many hats in order to ‘succeed’. I got here for the first time with my guitar and an open mind which led me to connect with different people and explore new paths in which I could use my skill set, and expand it. That’s when I met the wonderful Film Composer and Pianist, Joachim Horsley, who did not hesitate to recruit me as part of his team at Littlehorse Group.
It was here where I learned about Film Scoring and composing music to picture, and where I began to develop a mastery of this type of niche musical and composing work. Due to how quickly I acquired upper-level skills in film scoring and composing, I was given the opportunity to write additional music for Disney’s TV animated series the “Big City Greens”. This door opened many others for me like creating the original score for independent short films on my own, and to participate as a guitarist in distinguished tv series, including the popular Netflix series “A Tale Dark and Grimm,” “The Ghost and Molly McGee,” ‘Snatched’, to name a few. So, to wrap it up, sometimes my job allows me to create melodies, other times to reimagine pre-existing ones, and on occasions to conduct incredible orchestras.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I think the most effective way to support artists is by directly purchasing their products. Whether it is a song, an album, a piece of clothing, a performance, a photograph, whatever it is, it is always best to get involved and buy the products you love. These products/projects are usually quite expensive to produce, or at least very time consuming and precious, so it means a lot to see people care and value your work.
These days with digital platforms, it is a tragedy to see how artists are exploited, and it is unsustainable for the creatives to continue to put high quality products out in the world to consume. It is also very difficult to fight the big corporations so at least as an immediate course of action, I invite folks to get involved with the art they love, to support it and promote it.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
There are many rewarding aspects of being a creative. There is nothing like being on stage and presenting your own music to an audience eager to listen, but most importantly nothing compares to the community created in a band where you are constantly learning from each other and literally leaning on each other in order to play a piece. I think in music we can experience the ideal society in which instead of being ready to judge, everyone’s ready to listen and be present, and support one another. The most rewarding aspect of being an artist in this way is to meet people and hopefully make a positive impact in each other’s life through art.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aidademoya.com
- Instagram: @aidademoya
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aidademoyamusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidademoya/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/aidademoya
Image Credits
1) Luis Zavaleta 2) 4) 5) Gaia Wilmer 3) Alfonsina Martinez