Today we’d like to introduce you to Diana Valero
Hi Diana, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Diana Valero, I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela and I am a composer and pianist. I started taking music lessons when I was 7 years old at a local school. A funny anecdote I like to tell is that I originally wanted to play guitar but because I have always been a very small person, my arms and fingers were so tiny I could not reach the frets, so my teacher suggested the keyboard and I followed his advice. Soon after I began my studies, I was playing in bands with my friends and classmates, mostly focusing on jazz but adventuring with other genres such as salsa, afro-caribbean, pop, and rock as well. From when I was 10 until around 14, I was the pianist for a couple of big bands and orchestras that were part of the Venezuelan network of music education: El Sistema, which gave me the opportunity of touring around the country and in a couple of cities in France in 2015. In my teenage years, I continued to play with different bands around the city in big and small venues, and after many years of being a performer, I developed a passion for composing. Around the same time, I got accepted into one of the most rigorous music programs in my city to study composition and classical piano. I began my studies in compositional writing there until I graduated from high school and was ready to apply to college. In 2020, I was awarded the Gifted Tuition Scholarship awarded by the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation and the Adobe Creativity Scholarship, sponsored by Adobe and managed by the Institute of International Education, which allowed me to accept an offer from New York University to pursue a degree in music. After doing my first semester remotely from home because of Covid restrictions, I moved to the United States in 2021, the second semester of my freshman year. At NYU, I was enrolled as a full-time student while working part time to make ends meet. I also had the opportunity to intern for music editor Suzana Peric and music supervisor Susan Jacobs, where I learned about the film and television industry and its intersection with music and sound. In my senior year, I took an internship at Antfood, a studio that specializes in music and sound design for advertising, sonic branding, video games, film, tv and immersive exhibitions. During my time in school, I also collaborated with filmmakers and directors from NYU Tisch, Montclair University and FIT, scoring several of their short films, some of which have been selected at festivals across the US. After 4 years, I completed my program at NYU in May of 2024, earning a bachelor’s degree in Music Theory and Composition with a concentration in Screen Scoring (Music for Film and Multimedia). I am now working as a full-time Composer and Sound Designer at Antfood and I plan on pursuing projects as a freelance composer in my spare time.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My path to get to college was not an easy one. Coming from a country that is going through a major economic and socio-political crisis, I knew I had to leave from a very young age. The crime rate was one of the highest in the world, the cost of living increased by the minute due to the hyperinflation and my parents salaries were not enough to support me and my brothers. Basic services such as water and electricity were constantly interrupted for long periods of time, food and medicine were scarce, and political unrest was paramount as protests against the government grew more and more violent; costing the lives of hundreds. I realized very quickly that I -like millions of other Venezuelans- needed to leave the country to seek out better opportunities and a better way of living. My dream was to go to school in the United States, and I had one university in mind: Berklee College of Music, but it was evident to me that I had to find a way to pay for my university studies by myself since my parents were not able to support me financially. Growing up, I spent most of my time studying, playing, and learning as much music as I could so that I could be prepared for my college auditions and applications. I needed a full scholarship or else I would not be able to go at all.
As soon as I graduated from High School, in 2019, I applied to my dream school, Berklee. I got my time slot for the live audition that I would conduct using Skype, so I asked our neighbor for his office space that had reliable internet since I did not have wifi at home. I spent countless hours practicing the piece I would present (an original composition) and waited about two months to hear back from the school. The sad news would arrive on my birthday -kind of poetic, really- when Berklee sent me the acceptance letter with a line that read something along the lines of “At this time, we are not able to offer you any financial aid”. I was crushed, to say the least. I had spent a good portion of my life preparing for this moment, I had grown confident that I was going to get a scholarship like some of my friends had done in the past, and it just did not happen for me. Getting a scholarship meant more than just attending university, it was my hope for a better future, one that now seemed so distant I began to convince myself it was out of reach. After many months of self doubt, sadness and desperation, I decided to give it another shot thanks to the encouragement of a very dear friend (whom I will forever be grateful to). This time around, I was determined to expand my horizons and apply to other schools: NYU, The New School, CalArts and Berklee for a second time. Each of them offered me partial scholarships of about 50-60%. I wasn’t quite there, but I was closer to my goal. In an attempt to get the rest of the funds, I applied to two scholarships sponsored by outside organizations such as The Latin Grammy Foundation and the Adobe/Institute of International Education, hoping that one of them would help me pay for the rest. In April of 2020, I heard back from the Adobe Creativity Scholarship, I was selected out of more than 500 applicants from all around the world to receive an award that would cover the tuition balance for any of the schools I had applied for. I could not believe it, I had figured out how to pay for school, and even though I did not have the money to pay for my living expenses, I was determined to figure it out once I got there. Later that year, what I thought was impossible, happened: the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation had chosen me as one of the three recipients of the Gifted Tuition Scholarship. With both awards, I was able to pick which school I wanted to attend, with all of my educational expenses covered. After my round of interviews and auditions with all 4 schools, NYU quickly became my top choice because of its robust program, incredible faculty and prime location. I enrolled in New York University for Music Theory and Composition, did my first semester online because of Covid restrictions and came to New York in January of 2021.
Even though most of my educational expenses were covered by my scholarships, the cost of living in New York City was way too high and my parents were not able to support me. So, I got a job on campus while studying to make ends meet, and in the following years I interned at different music studios. Although my workload was extremely heavy and it was very difficult to balance a life in New York City as a full-time student, after 4 years, I completed my program and I graduated last May. Leaving home was challenging and scary; adapting to a new culture, changing my language, living alone, and trying to find a community in the middle of the pandemic was no easy task. However, I am infinitely grateful to my friends, family, peers, professors and colleagues who helped me get here; I would not have been able to do this without their support. I now look back at my younger self with pride and cheer her on because after failed attempts, heartbreaks, tears and countless hours of work, we can say that we did it!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a composer and pianist for film and multimedia. I write, record and produce music that supports stories on screen. I also do Sound Design, and it is one of my favorite parts of the process. I think the work of a composer is crucial because we are also storytellers, using music as our medium to evoke emotional responses from an audience or to reveal something hidden in the subtext. I have always been a very introspective and analytical person, so I really enjoy the process of immersing myself into the story, dissecting the characters to understand their motivations, breaking down the plot points and structure so I can truly convey what the filmmaker/director/writer is trying to say. As for my personal style of composition, my background is mostly in jazz, but I lean towards latin music a lot and I also really enjoy writing for orchestra. However, I love the versatility that the job requires. At the end of the day, the genre and style in which we write is dependent on the project, and I am always down to explore new genres and try new things.
One particular work I am really proud of is a piece I wrote about the protests that were going on in Venezuela titled “The Story of Chaos.” It was my way of recounting the events that took place between the years of 2014-2019 in my country, and it served as a medium to express all of the feelings that I was experiencing during that time. I dedicated this piece to the people who lost their lives in the protests. It was my way of honoring them, and it holds a very special place in my heart.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
They can reach out to me via instagram (@dianavaleroz) or through my website (dianavaleroz.com). I am always looking for opportunities to collaborate with filmmakers, directors, writers and all other creatives. I am very passionate about telling stories, so feel free to contact me if you have an idea or project that needs music or sound design.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dianavaleroz.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianavaleroz/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzCF3Qtmi1PZZwxFg4pzKUA
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dianavaleroz
Image Credits
@bartografia – Adrian Naranjo
