"Luis Fernando Amaya’s Cortahojas is an excellent introduction to the work of this thoughtful and meticulous composer. Amaya is interested in animals, insects, plants, and living beings beyond humans. Somehow, he manages to generate sound worlds that invite listeners to hear reality from that perspective. Some of his pieces sound as if you were in the middle of a swarm of bees, others sound like hundreds of ants sneaking into their nest.
This approach to music is not gratuitous. Amaya is also concerned with memory, particularly that of events that show humans’ worst tendencies. When composing, he remembers colonialism, environmental destruction, and neoliberalism. “Hearing insects” is not something he does because it is just fun—he pursues this path in order to imagine what would our planet look like today if most human societies had not behaved the way they did and continue to do so.
Cortahojas is an invitation to a different way of listening to Earth, perhaps one which is processed through a lens that has little to do with Homo sapiens. This is obviously an impossible task (Amaya and his listeners are humans), but doesn’t much of the most creative music ever made stem from questioning the margins of what is possible?
Luis Fernando Amaya’s work lies in this uncomfortable yet incredibly powerful position."
—Joan Arnau Pàmies, Protomaterial Records
released February 10, 2023
guerrilla de dientes entre los árboles (2022)
for two percussion sets
Rubén Bañuelos and Mikołaj Rytowski, percussion
Recorded at Musik-Akademie Basel, Switzerland on October 25, 2022
Luis Fernando Amaya, recording engineer
Mixed by Joan Arnau Pàmies
Pregunta no.2: Cóndor (2017)
for piano and e-bows
Jonathan Hannau, piano and e-bows
Recorded at Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Church,
Chicago, Illinois on November 10, 2017
Aaron Gottl, recording engineer
Mixed by Aaron Gottl
comentarios inaudibles (2022)
for cello and electronics
Isidora Nojkovic, cello
Recorded at Keenan Recording LLC, Chicago, Illinois on October 3, 2022
Sean Keenan, recording engineer
Mixed by Joan Arnau Pàmies
Bestiario: cuatro (2019)
for violin and speakers attached to the performer's body
Theo Espy, violin
Recorded at the Bienen School of Music of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois on September 16, 2019
Luis Fernando Amaya, recording engineer
Mixed by Luis Fernando Amaya
Cortahojas (2022)
for prepared violin and bassoon
William Overcash, violin
Ben Roidl-Ward, bassoon
Recorded at L'Intèrpret, Lleida, Catalonia on November 24, 2022
Joan Arnau Pàmies, recording engineer
Mixed by Joan Arnau Pàmies
que del mar saliste (2022)
for guitar and transducers
Ruben Mattia Santorsa, guitar
Recorded at Sonus Arcus, Berlin, Germany on November 16, 2022
Dietrich Petzold, recording engineer
Mixed by Joan Arnau Pàmies and Luis Fernando Amaya
All music by Luis Fernando Amaya
Mastered by Chris Mercer at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois
Photography by Ana María Bermúdez
Artwork and design by Joan Arnau Pàmies
Produced by Joan Arnau Pàmies
Special thanks to the musicians who perform on this album, to Joan Arnau Pàmies, Ana María Bermúdez, Elena Perales Andreu, Martha Muñoz Stransky, and Eduardo Amaya Rojas.
The piece Cortahojas was written with support from the Goethe-Institut via a Virtual Residency.
que del mar saliste was written with support from the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia.
luisfernandoamaya.com
protomaterial.org
PROTOM2
© & ℗ Protomaterial Records 2023