Download read more - Magdalena Duhagon

Published on Thursday December 22nd 2011
SEMANARIO BRECHA
Montevideo, Uruguay
With Magdalena Duhagon
Tear, heart
BY: Fabio Guerra
The sudden consciousness of where she is makes her retract her hand, which she had extended to
me to greet me. She is amongst the scents, places and affections that make her husband, Chilean
by birth, say he is Uruguayan. Then she corrects her greeting with a kiss and the dialog that
follows sounds like an effort to shorten the distance. That distance that keeps Magdalena
Duhagon in the United States since many years ago, where she built an international career as a
performer and which inspired the title of her new CD “11 thousand steps” which she presented
on Monday at the Zavala Muniz hall.*
—When did you leave?
—In 2000 I finished my Bachelors in guitar performance at the University's Music School and I
got a Fulbright scholarship for a two year Masters program in the United States. Later I got
another scholarship from the OAS and stayed three more years at the University; during the last
year, which they call of academic training, my visa was extended and I worked teaching music.
In 2007 I got my green card and moved to Washington DC's suburbs.
—Why did you choose the guitar?
—I had been playing since I was little, and at 13 I started to take lessons with guitarist Berta
Rojas who left a deep imprint on me because of her talent and devotion. She was a human and
artistic role model for me to identify with.
—Is she Uruguayan?
—She is Paraguayan but she studied here. And at the University's Music School I was privileged
to have teachers like Abel Carlevaro, Eduardo Fernández, Mario Paysée, and Esteban Klisich.
The CD has a piece by Esteban, "Olvidando por milongón", which had its world premiere at the
Zavala Muniz. The gifts and rigor of those teachers motivated my development. You were asking
why I chose the guitar; I always liked its timbre, its medium pitched tones, as well as what I feel
when I get sound out of it. It is an intimate instrument and it had an important role on my
tendency to introspection. It allowed me during adolescence to be able to shut my room's door to
remain alone with it. I'm also attracted to its polyphony and its repertoire which doesn't have
clear boundaries between the classical and the popular.
—Do you come from a family of musicians?
—No, my mom played some guitar as well as the piano. My older sister loved the piano but
since we didn't have one at home my father-who is a good dancer- tried to convince her that the
guitar was better. "You can take it anywhere", he told her.
—The preaching germinated on the wrong sister.
—Yes, and the reign of the guitar in the camps of our youth is unquestionable.
—Was it difficult for you to have the discipline the instrument demands?
—No, I'm pretty disciplined in general. During the adolescence, a period of big seclusions, I
discovered that in addition to liking the guitar I could do something of value with it. This made
me dedicate more time and efforts to it. A dedication that made me suffer through some periods
of many seclusions.
—Not a very understanding environment.
—Complex really, like any other artistic environment. It was always hard for me to find a
balance between the amount of work and the results. There were moments in which I suffered a
lot because I would work hard and wouldn't get the results I was looking for.
—Technical progress?
—Basically. The curriculum at the Music School [in Uruguay], when I did it, was too demanding
for the stage we the students were at. I think that happened because since they don't have
graduate programs they try to cover and fit during the undergraduate years a huge repertoire
which no one plays at the age we did. And the teacher is not infallible. Sometimes he or she
doesn’t get to guide you properly on a technical problem, and other times you as a student don't
even know how to explain what the problem is.
—You performed all over the world and with renowned groups. Did that period have any slips?
—You always have to be observing and criticizing what you do. And at some point maybe work
deeper on aspects that might have been neglected. For me it was the stage presence and
communication. Here that aspect is usually not addresses specifically but in the United States
they work on it and emphasize it.
—It had to be the United States the one to show it to you.
—I think it doesn't depend so much on the place but on the teaching style. They work more in
teams; once a week one student- within a group where most of us came from different countrieswould play for the rest of the group and afterwards everyone will comment on their playing and
give them feedback. I learned a lot from those exercises of musical diversity.
—On the album you confess your homesickness for Uruguay but at the same time you remain
there [in the US]. How do you manage that tension?
—Like any Uruguayan artist that longs to return but knows that can't make a living here with his
or her work. I'm Uruguayan and I miss my places, affections and even some smells. But, to tell
you something, when I finished my Masters in the United States and I didn't know if I would get
a scholarship I had applied to, I bought a viola and started to practice it. Since I knew that if I
came back I would not be able to make a living with the guitar, with the viola I could at least
have been able to aspire to get a position in the orchestra. My husband, Eddie Matus, is a luthier,
violist and composer –the CD includes three of his compositions–. We usually imagine
ourselves- daydreaming- retired and living here.
—He is not a compatriot.
—He is from Chile but has lived in Montevideo; we met at a Youth Orchestra. He insists that he
is Uruguayan.
* The concerts featured a young violinist, Matías Craciun, and was produced by Osvaldo Leite;
the album 11 thousand steps is available at the Teatro Solis gift shop.
Published on Thursday December 22nd 2011