Daily Inspiration: Meet Mario Salvador

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mario Salvador.

Mario, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin? 
My name is Mario Salvador; I am a 24-year-old Cuban Tres Player and Composer. I studied at the National School of Art and at the Institute of Art in Cuba, where I trained as a Tres Player and classical musician. Currently, I reside in Boston, Massachusetts, where I continue my university studies in Composition and Film Scoring at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. 

I started in music around the age of 7 under the guidance of Efrain Amador, Doctor in Arts Sciences, Composer, Tres Player, and Founder of the Tres Academy in Cuba. The Cuban Tres is the national chordophone of Cuba and could be said to be the most important instrument in the development of Cuban music, specifically in Son Cubano, which derived into subgenres such as timba or what we innocently call “Salsa” and comes from predecessor genres from the eastern part of Cuba such as Changüí, Kiribá, and Nengon. 

This instrument captured my attention from the first time I heard it. My father, also a “tresero”, used to have rehearsals and jam sessions in the living room of our house, and that’s where I had the pleasure of hearing the great tradition of Cuban music and the powerful sound of the tres for the first time. When I started studying with Efrain Amador at the age of 8, I had a great epiphany. He presented this instrument to me as a Life project, spoke about the gaps that existed in the repertoire itself, and also about the great possibilities that this instrument had to be treated as a universal instrument capable of assuming all styles from the Renaissance and classical and romantic periods to the 20th century with all contemporary and avant-garde forms, always remembering that it is an instrument born in a musical tradition and a strong culture that is Cuban, which would have to be taken into account when approaching this journey, as he himself called it “The Universalization of the Cuban Tres.” Efrain undoubtedly had and has great symbolic value for me as a musician beyond what I learned; his home and family were my first Music academy. 

In Cuba, I had the opportunity to record and play alongside various artists and musicians such as Ernan Lopez Nussa, Miguel Nunez, Adalberto Alvarez y su Son, M Alfonso, Rolando Luna, Gastón Joya, Michael Herrera, Dayramir Gonzalez, Hayde Milanes, Pancho Amat, Enrique Pla, Yilian Canizares among others, also with musicians of my generation like Yasel Munoz, Marcos Morales, Rafael Aldama, Pepe Gavilondo, and the Interactive Ensemble of Havana, with whom I share several record productions that summarize my first stage as a musician in Cuba, among them, it is worth mentioning: 

Masintin with 577 Records NYC 2021 

Le Mat-Mario Salvador 2022 

Ciudad Fantasía-Mario Salvador 2021 

Nuevo Trio (NT) Mario Salvador, Marcos Morales y Rafael Aldama 2023 

“Camino del Diamante” Yasel Munoz 2022 

“La Luz que esconde la Sombra” Marcos Morales 2022 “Studio Session” EIH 2022 

In Cuba, I always felt art and music is a natural process. Cubans are accustomed to creating conditions where there are none and to finding new ways daily in a country where sadly people have to leave in search of a dream. My music is about that, about creating what does not exist or what exists in me that I do not know, and in the search for that personal power that we humans have in connection with our own divinity. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I began to dream of the possibility of continuing my studies at Berklee from a very young age. I remember that after a symphonic music concert in which Dayramir Gonzalez invited me to play, I took the opportunity to talk to him about Berklee, knowing that he had been one of the first Cuban graduates of Berklee. After getting a first contact with the school and doing my audition and interview online, they told me that they were giving me a full scholarship to study for four years. That news was a great joy, but the struggle and sacrifice after that for economic and visa reasons were such that the whole process of coming to Boston took me about two years. Not only did I have to get money where there was none, but I also had to go to Guyana, a third country, to have my interview, and it turned out that I could not get the visa and spent more than $4000, almost in vain. Which for the daily life and salary of a Cuban would be relative to working for more than 20 years. Despite all the obstacles that appeared on the way, I kept wanting to fight for my dreams, and beautiful people appeared in my path together with my family and God, everything was destined to achieve it, and it happened with great odds of having been impossible. “El Fondo de Arte Joven” is an organization that helps young Cuban artist to materialize their dreams they, together with Lorenzo Suarez, its founder, were essential in this process, and also with them, I won a scholarship for Academic Mobility that allowed me to afford the first-semester living expenses at the school and achieve something historical which would be to be the first Tres Player in the history of Berklee College of Music. 

Today, I am in my 3rd semester at Berklee, and it has truly exceeded my expectations academically as I perceive it. From multicultural diversity, conditions, faculties, and program design, I feel that I am in the best place to continue learning and do what I want to do with the tres and music. Actually, right now, I am working on a Duo project with Klara Poznachowska, a Global Jazz Institute harp student from Poland, with whom I have a beautiful album project coming out this year. We are celebrating the diversity of the art and merging two instruments that have never been together before: harp and tres. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My first album, “Ciudad Fantasia,” recorded in Cuba in 2021 and released by the EGREM record label in 2021, I believe, summarizes a bit of who I am. Truly, this album managed to capture my essence. However, right now, I am in a different place regarding my interaction with music, and I have recorded several albums and collaborations after that one. But it still a special and symbolic music for me. On the other side, Having started studying in depth the great masters of the 20th century, like Stravinsky, Leo Brouwer, Ligueti, and Morton Felman, has expanded my perception of music and allowed me to appreciate more poetic and colorful spectrums. It has also changed the way I compose. Jazz ceased to be my primary influence when composing. Even if I compose for jazz formats, I prefer to draw from a broader container. 

One aspect of my work is about finding the truth and creating new worlds through storytelling. I have always considered myself a creative person, passionate about what I do. I cannot rest if I don’t know what my next project is. I am the kind of person who needs to be immersed in something productive most of the time. Thanks to being this way, I can look back and feel proud of all the music I have recorded in such a short time, all the people I have met, and all the stories behind each project. They are the result of doing because between doing and not doing, it’s always better to do, as you will always gain some experience from it, some knowledge. And I believe Berklee has also helped me organize that aspect more. How you manage your time, when you rest, how to keep a schedule, it’s very important here because many things are happening at the same time while you have to fulfill your university subjects and work. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
My music is about creating what does not exist or what exists in me that I do not know and searching for that personal power that we humans have in connection with our own divinity. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/mariosalvador3?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=006b9421-5ceb-4edb-a27a-4df65e38f35a
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mario_salvador_tres?igsh=bTZ2cmx2NXJyc2p3
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariosalvador.rodriguezmorales?mibextid=PtKPJ9
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@MARIOSALVADOR-TRES?si=vuJ_Ph71CGJkokfk

Image Credits
Adrian Fuentes