The meaning of the Maya word Paax: Music

By María Hanneman Vera

🎧 Audiocolumn

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A little over a year ago, I visited London while waiting for the results of my auditions at the Escorial Conservatory in Spain, and I was already obsessed with getting tickets to go see "Como Agua para Chocolate" the ballet and orchestra staging based on the book by Laura Esquivel and with music expressly composed for this wonderful work; the director: Alondra de la Parra.

The teacher, after writing to the people at the theater, managed to get two tickets, not an easy task since they had been sold out for months.

The moment arrived. I was very excited because she invited me to greet her, to see her backstage, and then life had another surprise in store for me: I want to invite you next year to the Paax GNP festival. I heard her say, and for a moment I felt that the world stopped, that I began to float, that it was like a dream. Brief moments passed, but they were enough to remember the road I had traveled and to place myself again in the here and now, with the certainty that it had all been worth it. Yes, I almost had a heart attack; then I could not stop crying with emotion.

And the preparations began, emails came and went, zooms with everyone, with the teacher, with her team, agreeing on the repertoire, invitations to more participations such as chamber music, a piece with The Impossible Orchestra*, all this, in addition to my participation as a soloist under the baton of the teacher.

I was so nervous, honestly. The day of the trip to Xcaret arrived, the first thing the teacher said to me was: What a pleasure to have you here. My heart was filled.

We started rehearsals, some incredible musicians, a great line-up. I was the youngest of the musicians. I loved the atmosphere. A lot of work, because we all live in different parts of the world, and now we had to assemble every note.

My rehearsal arrived, I think my heart was pounding, but once we started, the teacher's vibe, her confidence in me, her control of everything, made the magic happen. Then on the day of the concert, filled almost to capacity, the look in the teacher's eyes gave me all the peace of mind in the world. She told me, you are doing great.

We played, and wooow, it went very well. We had agreed, for time, that there would be no encores in the solo concerts, but at the moment of the applause, she said to me:

- Did you bring something prepared? Of course I did. And so you're going, do you want to say what it is?

- Teacher, I can't even talk. She laughed and gave way to my encore.

I loved working with her. I love that she is a woman, that she is Mexican, and I know that many times she has been criticized, because it seems that women can't be who we are without a trick, without levers, or without something.

She is who she is. Alondra de la Parra is who she is, because of herself, her work, her intelligence. To summon all those great musicians is for a reason.

Of all the things he told me, advice, directions, and so on, the ones that most, most, most resonated in my head and heart were those personal pieces of advice he gave me. He told me that I was very young, with a lot to do, to live, to enjoy. That I am doing very well, that I should keep working hard, but that I should also enjoy a lot. That my life should be full of good moments of friends, love, music, beautiful things. That nothing should take that away from me. And I loved those words. I loved seeing her eyes looking at me, with her smile being not the Parra's teacher, but Alondra, a woman who has all the success in the world, giving advice to another woman who is just starting out. Life advice, perhaps advice that she herself would have loved to receive at my age. I have no words but my gratitude and love. And for me Paax is not only music, it is love, education, experience, friendship. Long live the great Paax GNP Festival, but above all for more Alondra in this world. For many more.

María Hanneman Vera, born in March 2006, has been taking piano lessons since she was 4 years old. She has participated in more than 50 recitals and played with 11 orchestras. She has collaborated with Mexican tenor Javier Camarena, and recently with conductor Alondra de la Parra. She is an ambassador for the Sempiterno Foundation, which helps change the lives of communities living in extreme poverty in Oaxaca.

*La Orquesta Imposible was formed - at the initiative of Alondra de la Parra - by a group of the best contemporary musicians of 14 nationalities in 2020, with the aim of raising awareness and supporting women and children in Mexico affected by AIDS-19. They met virtually to perform Arturo Márquez's Danzón No 2, and two years later, with the pandemic under control, they met in person on stage.

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