La pasión de toda la vida de mi padre por la panadería siempre me ha cautivado, especialmente con su noción de la "muerte de la levadura" refiriéndose al momento en que el pan está listo. Esta idea me pareció profundamente poética y es la principal fuente de inspiración para este trabajo. Levadura es una odisea musical que sumerge a los oyentes en los microprocesos de la preparación del pan desde la perspectiva de la levadura, animándolos a contemplar el profundo viaje de la levadura y la belleza inherente en los procesos ordinarios que nos sostienen. El viaje comienza con una introducción etérea, visualizando ingredientes convergiendo lentamente en una sola masa de masa. Dentro de esta atmósfera etérea, la levadura emerge gradualmente como una colonia de microorganismos altamente activos. A medida que la música se transforma en una sección animada y similar a un baile, encarna la coreografía alegre de amasar la masa, con ritmos que reflejan el golpe de la masa en la mesa. La levadura despierta, se estira y se prepara para su transformación principal. La música adopta un tono pegajoso, reflejando el estado "ebrio" de la levadura durante el levado. Simula el proceso de fermentación mientras la levadura consume azúcares y la masa continúa aumentando. Con cada instrumento contribuyendo a un tapiz contrapuntístico armonioso, la elaboración del pan toma forma. La música se intensifica para reflejar el proceso de horneado, utilizando efectos percusivos y gestos dramáticos para representar el aumento de la temperatura y la expansión de miles de millones de células de levadura. En los últimos momentos, la composición cambia a una marcha fúnebre solemne para la levadura. Hay una inquietante anticipación mientras las células de levadura encuentran su destino. Sin embargo, en medio de la solemnidad, hay una dulce reflexión que honra el sacrificio de la levadura, proporcionando cuerpo, aroma y sabor al pan, y en última instancia, sacrificando su vida para darnos sustento a nosotros.

The Immigration Suite is a collection of ten tangos that examine different facets of life as an immigrant. The overarching narrative follows a somewhat analogous journey to that of seasonal changes and personal growth. Espera is about the survival demand for patience and endurance that one ought to have when dealing with the uncertainties of the immigration process. Ultimately, this suite is about resilience and letting go of the past, and tango offers a unique medium to showcase the sense of finding solace in the face of despair. Brandon Chamber Players Kerry DuWors (Violin) Catherine Wood (Clarinet) Laura Jones (Cello) Chris Jones (Double Bass) Luis Ramirez (Piano) The creation of this suite was generously funded by the Ontario Arts Council. March 31, 2023 City Hall, Brandon, MB, Canada

Prompt, for Two Saxophones and audio by Luis Ramirez Premiered by Duo d'Entre Deux Nick Zoulek And Tommy Davis, Tenor Saxophone Myriam Boucher, Video Commissioned by GroundSwell Premiered in Winnipeg, MB West End Cultural Centre, November 29, 2022 The last couple of years have seen an incredible acceleration in the development of Artificial Intelligence. One of the areas with the most impressive progress is that of image-generating algorithms, which has seen a huge increase in popularity. This surge has been mainly due to the release of Dalle-2, an AI system that generates very impressive and detailed images based on users’ text prompts, and it was recently made available to the public for the first time. Deciphering the key to obtaining the most accurate results has led to the emerging field of prompt engineering. This is the meticulous crafting and testing of different prompts in order to yield the best results from the generator, and it is precisely the focus of Prompt. The mission of the performers is to craft a compelling prompt for the generator. They test out these prompts by exchanging musical gestures, and refine them by adding small variations or complementing each other's lines. The question is - can a prompt be so detailed and well designed so that there is virtually no difference between the image generated and reality? This prompt exploration is accompanied by gradually-evolving speech-synthesis technology, representing both the improvement of the prompt and the accelerating development of Artificial Intelligence, or what is called the "Technological Singularity". This concept asks a much larger and critical question - What will happen after Artificial Intelligence surpasses Human Intelligence?

Picante, for Symphony Orchestra by Luis Ramirez MIDI Mockup Commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Gimeno Picante follows the masochistic experience of eating spicy food as it takes us on an imaginative journey inside the human body. The entire piece is built around a fiery gesture that builds over time into an explosive climax, before being close-up in a calm state of flavorful enjoyment. This process of being “enchilado” doesn’t have an exact translation in English, and yet, this burning sensation is quintessential in Mexican culture. The music captures the fascinating process that occurs when eating spicy food: the body perceives the capsaicin molecule as a threat, which sets off a rich microcosm of warnings. Our hearts quicken, we sweat, sniffle, cry, and cough; we shiver, we groan, we scream, and we suffer... All these waves of gestures are imagined in the music and are all signals to get this threat out of your body. Nevertheless, the most crucial reaction is that the brain releases endorphins and dopamine to lessen and alleviate the pain. This particular factor, along with flavor and aroma, is what fuels our incessant consumption of spicy food, and the result is an intriguing exploration of the fine line between pain and pleasure. After all - what is life, if not the search for pleasure amidst the pain?

Music, video, and performance by Luis Ramirez Commissioned by GroundSwell as part of their 30th anniversary season in 2021-2022 Special thanks to Scott Howarth for letting me use his piano. Program notes: The terms “doomsurfing” and “doomscrolling” emerged as a way to describe the behavior of nonstop consumption of bad news that a lot of people adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic. This behavioral addiction stemmed from the isolation and general gloom that people have experienced in the last couple of years. The already damaging behavior is exacerbated by the designs and interface of the various online platforms. The attention economy drives companies to employ hundreds of people whose job is to keep the user hooked and take advantage of their psychological vulnerabilities for their profit. Addictions develop with the idea that the behavior is protecting us from psychological distress. Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc., can all trigger behavioral addictions for us to mitigate our problems and troubles. All procrastination is just like an addiction - you start doing it because you want to have fun, but you continue because you don't want to feel unhappy. Loneliness is the biggest culprit for addiction, and while it is really difficult to escape the doomsurfing temptation when we have our own internal problems, it is even more so with the amount of external tumult and uncertainty in our current world. The struggle begins with our surroundings. The gravitational pull of my phone is much stronger if I wake up next to it, and this accessibility inevitably leads to the rest of my day being mostly unproductive. The morning is typically my best time for ideas and productivity, and the limited bandwidth of our brain can be quickly cluttered if I dive into internet rabbit holes too early on. Once the phone takes over it is really hard to escape, and it feels like a battle for my attention between a productive day and the Internet’s infinite content. I have found that delaying the first interaction with my device by even just half an hour results in me having a much more productive and fulfilling day. Going for a walk, getting direct sunlight in my eyes, drinking lots of water… It is small steps like these that can lead to building good habits and a general improvement in your life. I wanted to represent this struggle with my music and share what I have learned with the hope that it can benefit someone in similar circumstances. #doomsurfer #doomscrolling #piano #depression #newmusic #contemporarymusic

Mi Piñata, by Luis Ramirez World premiere performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with Gustavo Gimeno conducting. Roy Thomson Hall, April 27th, 2022. Toronto ON Program Notes This piece is about the empowerment, jubilance, and catharsis in meticulously crafting something whose ultimate purpose is to be destroyed ferociously. There is something viscerally powerful in the destruction of a beautiful, meticulously crafted creation. While the history and symbolism of the piñata are interesting, this piece is not about that. This piece is about its deeply meaningful presence to a child, focusing on the excitement and anticipation of breaking "Mi Piñata". In the Mexican tradition, the breaking of the piñata is the highlight of any major communal celebration. During the celebration, all the children line up and take turns to strike the piñata, and the moment you receive the stick you are immediately empowered. The anticipation of landing the final blow can feel more meaningful and enjoyable than the delectable reward inside. The moment of destruction is a glorious one - a cathartic experience and an incredible way to release deeply-rooted emotions we otherwise might not know how to address. Piñatas are a certainty in any party or celebration, and this ritual of physical and psychological release leaves an indelible imprint on those who grow up experiencing it. "Mi Piñata" captures this powerful sensory and emotional experience from the perspective of a child, for whom it constitutes a kind of focused excitement and exhilaration like no other. The piñata artisans put painstaking work and immense craftsmanship into their products, transforming scraps of cardboard and paper into an exciting shape to be destroyed. I represent this in the music by constructing the entire piece around a single idea, a tiny melodic fragment evoking the folk songs chanted during the breaking of the piñata. The small fragments build up one after another, as the full piñata gradually emerges accompanied by a childlike spirit of anticipation and excitement. Once assembled, the music is festive and jubilant up until the first strike of the stick. Each “hit” that lands increasingly distorts the musical content, morphing into joyous cacophony until there is nothing left but a kaleidoscopic display of colour, candy, and cheers. The premise of creating something beautiful only to destroy it is counter to the human instinct to preserve and cherish. At the same time, it is an empowering and liberating act akin to what occurs in nature and life: the certainty of the impermanence in all things, even the most beautifully and meticulously crafted. What matters in the end is the community and the joy of being with each other. Mi Piñata was commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to celebrate their 100th season. The piñata is an icon of Mexican folklore and, for me, a most fitting way to celebrate this incredible achievement.

In Mexican slang, the word "chido" [chee-doh] is used to describe when something is cool, awesome, beautiful, interesting, attractive, or exciting. This is the story of a man who had everything figured out. He was chido in every definition of the word. He strolled the city with obvious swagger. His words were magnetic. People flocked to hear him speak because he knew everything. His confidence radiated, and no person could even imagine being as interesting and amazing as him. He had the kind of appeal that commanded the attention and admiration of everyone around him. His life was perfect and he didn’t have a worry in the world. There wasn’t a thing he would change. And then he woke up. -- Chido, for Symphony Orchestra, by Luis Ramirez Premiered during the Winnipeg New Music Festival 2018 by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra January 30th, 2018 Centennial Concert Hall Winnipeg, MB, Canada https://www.cutza.xyz

Singularity - Luis Ramirez premiered by Daniel Ramjattan, guitar CMC livestream The Technological Singularity is the hypothesis that the development of Artificial Superintelligence will abruptly trigger recursive self-improvement, and this unfathomable technological growth will result in devastating changes to human civilization. This piece is about the moment that humans are made obsolete by machines. The performer represents Human Intelligence and the audio represents Artificial Intelligence. Both parts play exactly the same musical content in a canon, but even though the human starts ahead in the race, the AI gradually gets closer in pitch and distance to the human. There comes a point where HI and AI are battling so close to each other that a new being is created: the trans-human. This intellectual amplification allows the human and the machine to be one, but only before the AI enters a "runaway reaction" of self-improvement cycles, causing an intelligence explosion and resulting in a powerful superintelligence that surpasses all human intelligence.

The Internet Jaimie Rose, soprano Luis Ramirez, piano Lyrics by Poppy, https://youtu.be/wwnODNJ_6Eg "Do you have a Facebook? The Internet is my favorite place for activities. Sometimes I forget my password. I like to purchase things on Amazon.com. I log in to Facebook using my password. What is your favorite website? I have to use a password to log on to the Internet. Do you ever use the Internet to look at pictures? After all of us are dead our content will last forever on the World Wide Web! That's why I love the Internet. Sometimes I log on to the Internet to look at pictures. Do you have a Facebook? Facebook is a website on the Internet. I log in to my Facebook with a password. I love the Internet." - Poppy Composed, filmed, and edited by Luis Ramirez https://www.cutza.xyz