My honors thesis was a composition for baritone and piano titled Lineage. Writing Lineage allowed me to explore the intersection of my unique cultural crossroads: family, Mexican ancestry, the American Dream, Christianity, education, and social interactions like friendships, bullies and partnerships, and a steadfast hope for internal peace. All these ideas find their way into every aspect of my work.

As I composed Lineage, hybridity and cultural dissonance played key roles in the discovery of my creative voice. I initially aimed to explore Mexican culture and identity in a scholarly way, focusing on folk music and modern regional styles. Over time, my focus gradually became more personal, shifting toward themes that better reflected my own identity, for example: the stress of studying, optimism about the future, and my faith as a Christian. These ideas, in turn, directly influenced the music I wrote. The fusion of my Mexican heritage and American ideals are reflected through a blend of styles and techniques found in both Mexican and traditional Western music. 

In a span of nearly three years, I composed seven movements that blend my unique cultural crossroads into every word, note, and instruction, allowing my life to shape the music I wrote. The result is a piece that effectively combines my identity and experiences into a complex narrative of personal and universal themes. Lineage embodies my journey as a composer and my ability to inspire self-reflection through music and storytelling.

Lineage is my invitation for listeners to reflect on their personal experiences, encourage deep thinking within oneself, and in similarity to my experience composing this piece, create a space for self-discovery and connection through the music.

“The past is reinvented and becomes the future. But the lineage is everything.”

– Philip Glass, from Words Without Music