We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Holman Alvarez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Holman below.

Alright, Holman thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Thoughts about learning music

I’ve been studying music since I was a teenager, and I have understood that to be a musician is a commitment to life. You need to learn and practice your skills to make them work in your context.

When you compose music, you create a territory that flows through time. You create limits that could be trespassed depending on your wishes, needs, and fears. You make a plan that allows you to survive.

When you play a musical instrument you start feeling it as a prosthesis, as an extension of your body that works as a tool to communicate with others.

The process of learning to play an instrument works as a mirror. A mirror that shows strengths and weaknesses. The more you practice the better you express your message. But it’s not only a matter of practice, you need to understand the relation between things. First of all, the relationship between the mind and the body. Then, between the body and the other living beings, objects, and context.

Music is also how the world is going on. What is happening in the world could be called music. Music of despair, war, hate, pleasure, etc. If you are a musician you can express whatever you want in the way you want to do it. Just follow your instincts, breath, and don’t be afraid of anything. To become a musician you need to flow with time, you need to be flexible because time is it and time and music are the same.

These are a few things I have learned in 30 years. Now, in my 40s I’m very grateful to my younger self for choosing this path and never surrendering. Knowing that my profession is a field where there always will be something new to learn is the greater gift that life has offered to me.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a pianist and composer from Cali – Colombia. I like to improvise and compose music. My influences flow between music from my country, jazz, and, contemporary music. I have composed music for films, documentaries, podcasts, and performers who commissioned me new works. I have recorded 6 albums as a leader and several others as a sideman and sessionist. My last album is called LIMINAL and was awarded by the Colombian Ministry of Culture in 2023 as one of the best discographic productions in 2023.
My next album that will be called “ Hidden Objects” will be released in November 2024 by the NYC label Sunnyside Records. I used to teach in college for many years but now I only teach private lessons.
My website is holmanalvarez.com if you want to know more about me and my work.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to resonate with my time and to try to perceive vibrations from the unknown. I want to be able to survive in a real world without losing my capacity for wonder. It’s always a challenge to live between the practical and the abstract world and the contemporary artist has to find a way to deal with it.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to learn not to overthink while the creative process was taking place. The process of thought conceived as the analysis and solution of a problem has to find a way of communicating with the instinct. When I was studying jazz or classical music I thought that the best performers could think as fast as the music happens. Now I know that you need to prepare yourself the best you can to be able to release your creative energy when you are performing. The act of playing has to be performed by your body led by emotion without the guide of your thinking.

Contact Info:

• Website: holmanalvarez.com
• Instagram: alvarez_holman
• Youtube: @holmanalvarez3154

Image Credits
@santalunaestudios Gustavo Cabrera Gustavo Bolton Jazz al Parque Norte Designs Services Glenda Torrado