Rising Stars: Meet Laura Mazon Franqui

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Mazon Franqui.

Hi Laura, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Havana City, Cuba, in the 90s, in what has been called by Cuban historians as the “Special Period. A time in which most of the days we didn’t have electricity, food was a complicated issue for any family, and many commodities considered “normal” for the rest of the world were just inaccessible for us. But music and dreams were. I grew up in a musical home with a grandpa of profound sensibility and amateur musical knowledge, who would listen every day attentively to the radio music from Bach to Schoenberg, and an aunt who was a 1st figure of the Cuban Opera. At home, the classics became my childhood songs and music was all around. My family was heavily interested in books, art, and everything related to knowledge and sensibility, and in those days without electricity, we used to entertain ourselves by telling stories, playing music or even making little “family shows”. You can see pictures of me at two years old “playing” the piano, singing, and trying all sorts of costumes created by my mom, and I think that those speak for themselves. Those were happy times.

As my interest in music was growing, at the early age of six, I began my musical studies, receiving piano lessons from pianist and composer Maria Matilde Alea, one of the most renowned female composers of the past century in Cuba. Discovering notation, the infinite possibilities of music, and the magic of the Cuban rhythmic combinations, was like entering into a new and magical world, a world that most children my age in my school didn’t understand. At that point, I realized I was somehow different and that music could be my path.

At nine years old, my aunt (after acknowledging that maybe I was meant to be a musician) decided to take me to audition to be part of a specialized music school called Alejandro Garcia Caturla Conservatory of Music.

At that time, I really had no idea that the guitar would be my instrument, I had never even played one. But I wanted to be a musician, and after many rounds of examinations, I was accepted, and they decided that the guitar was the suitable instrument for me.

However, the moment I had a revelation was when I went to see the Concierto de Aranjuez at the Auditorium and was mesmerized by the possibilities of my instrument. That day I made it my goal to play it someday and fell in love with the Classical Guitar.

At Caturla, under the guidance of devoted teachers like Alejandro Coira and Carlos Vazquez, I discovered the beauty of this instrument and was offered the great opportunity to join a 100-guitar youth orchestra in my very first school year. That orchestra was meant to be conducted by Leo Brower himself and to open the world-renowned Festival de Guitarra de La Habana(Havana Guitar Festival).

I still remember how meaningful it all felt. I was rehearsing at the ultimate venue for classical music at the moment, Amadeo Roldan Auditorium and we were sharing the stage with legends of the guitar. That was surreal. At that young age, I was living the artist life, and life was forcing me to become an active guitarist since then.

At the same time, I started developing as a solo performer, participating in youth competitions (2nd prize Manuel Saumell Guitar Competition;1st place Provincial Guitar Competition of Havana) and even doing appearances on Cuban Tv for educational and music programs/shows. Since that tender age, my life has always been intertwined and built around music, art, cameras, and guitars.

Right after my elementary and middle school years, I was admitted into the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory(an iconic conservatory in Cuba, where some legendary figures have studied and taught) and started receiving master classes from some of the biggest names in the Latin American guitar: Leo Brouwer, Victor Pellegrini, Jorge Luis Zamora, Aldo Rodriguez. At that point, my performing activity was intense: I was a teenager who would wake up early in the morning to go to school, have a recording in the middle of the day, and maybe at night, I will have a concert coming home at late hours of the night.

Later on, I decided to pursue other avenues of music for my bachelor’s degree, deciding to go for Orchestral Conducting and Musicology as my major. Those times at the University of Arts were times of discovery and experimentation, and I believe that my multifaceted artistic persona was shaped during that time of my life. Our University was heavy on student projects and art interactions, and therefore, I was often involved in unique and innovative collaborations with the Visual Arts, Drama, and Film Departments. I like to think of that period as my creative growth and enrichment era, which nurtured much of my artistic aesthetic and holistic approach to music.

After graduating from the University of Arts, I was given the opportunity of coming to the US, and even though it was a huge challenge, I decided to take it. I was craving new horizons and career development possibilities and decided to give it all my energy and effort to be able to continue pursuing and developing my guitar and music path. I was soon offered a full scholarship to do my master’s in music Degree at the University of Miami, and now I am on a Doctoral path at USC.

Here in the United States, I have been able to continue my performing career, offering concerts at prestigious venues, festivals, and concert series throughout the states, taking masterclasses and classes from guitar legends like Pepe Romero, Scott Tennant, William Kanengeiser, Manuel Barrueco, Ana Vidovic, offering masterclasses and workshops myself and becoming an Endorsed Artist for Augustine Strings and Cordoba Guitars, and more recently starting my journey as a recording artist and media composer. There is a lot to be thankful for!

Nevertheless, as my career advances and new prospects unlock, a deeper sense of commitment develops as my center of philosophical and artistic drive. These are times of cultural globalization, emotional alienation, violence, lack of education, security, and well-being, human rights desecration, power abuse, poverty, religious conflicts, gender inequality, and child exploitation, where art needs to have a great and undeniable positive role. Being an artist is having a voice becoming a role model, and so a social posture is almost unavoidable. And I want to be a voice for good and for positive change.

Driven by these convictions, I navigate my choices and career. Therefore, I consider myself not only a musician but a storyteller.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, just knowing that I started my life and my musical journey in an extremely poor communist country under dictatorship could just give you an idea, that the road hasn’t been smooth. There was a lot of sacrifice from the very beginning, but there was also a lot of love.

Also, coming from Cuba, I landed in this country with a bag full of dreams and nothing in my pocket. Here in the US, even though I found open doors to professional development and higher education; I have worked hard, pushing myself to the limits in order to fit into a new social and economic system, learn a new language, continue my career path, and understand the role of culture in this society, trying not to lose myself, my identity, and values in the confusing process of embracing a new life.

Moreover, being a woman in music, and even more, in the male-dominated guitar world, has been another challenge, but nothing that constant self-improvement, endurance, and bravery cannot overcome.

However, all those “bumps” on the road made me who I am, as an artist and advocate and a conscious citizen of the world. They are all part of my storytelling and my unique voice.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
When encountering the question of what do I do, niching down the answer might be challenging for me.

I am a classical guitarist. I was trained and formed on the traditions of the classical guitar and that is what I have been doing for more than two decades. However, I like to explore great music from other genres and like to be, like Amazon cellist Tina Guo says: a genre-fluid musician. I also enjoy diving into the diversity of the styles and modes of playing the guitar as a whole and playing electric and acoustic/crossover guitar too.

But there is also something else: I consider myself a music artist and a storyteller, and that involves having a conscious(almost activist-like) mindset and values that you represent with your work (in my case, becoming an advocate for female empowerment, championing the music by minorities and contemporary creators and performing the music from my Hispanic and Latin American heritage), and thinking beyond the instrument itself, trying to envision concerts as immersive experiences, as cultural visitations, and always coming up with creative collaborations with partners from the other art expressions such as dance, photography, visual arts or cinema.

I am also a music educator, and you can see me teaching either at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music or find my pre-recorded masterclasses at EliteGuitarist.com.

And finally, I would like to say that I am an emerging composer (although I admire and respect that occupation so much that it almost feels strange to say that out loud!), focused now on bringing the guitar back to the screen/film scoring industry and exploring all the richness that the instrument has to offer.

What sets me apart – Well, I believe that we are all unique since our stories and vision are all personal and irreplaceable. What sets me apart is exactly that: my story and vision.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
When I was a child, I used to be the happiest most positive child, always full of ideas, always daydreaming, and coming up with stories and fantasies. I pretty much lived in my own world, and my home was a magical place where everything was possible, as we were all dreamers.

When I was a teenager, I did sometimes struggle with depression, was the kind of “Dark Academia” sort of girl, you could always find me either playing my guitar or reading a book, or just listening to music(rock or classical), and also with my group of friends. I was a busy teenager because of the load of activities I had every day, but I enjoyed it and thanks to my friends I never really felt alone since we were always together.

I was always playing the piano for my grandpa and the guitar for everybody at home, as I used to practice in the living room! And you could find me painting my nails black or going out to rock concerts on Saturday nights and to the concert hall to hear the Symphonic Orchestra on Sundays.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lauramazon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/llillaura/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-mazon-franqui-b14534ba/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPJ2eeYKX9cXQdgZYbxN8fA
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0gG9a7a8lRecPpdcprSd1T

Image Credits
Image credits: Alexander Alfonso Alonso Juan Espino Photography