Djavan’s “Flor de Lis,” performed by Faculty Members Alexis Romay & Felipe Ledezma

From Profe: “Last year, I had the wonderful opportunity to play in the Big Fish orchestra conducted by Mr. Lal. During that time, I had the privilege of having Mr. Ledezma by my side. He played Guitar 1, and I played Guitar 2. (If this were a movie, I’d say that he was the hero and I was the sidekick.) By playing alongside (and trying to keep up with) such a talented musician, I had to seriously improve my musicianship. I studied lots of music theory, and played the score of Big Fish countless times, by myself, aiming to sight-read its songs and be able to play them in concert (see what I did there?) with the band. To paraphrase the show: I felt like a small fish in the big pond of music. It was thanks to Mr. Ledezma’s encouragement and his tips on how to approach certain passages of the most difficult songs that I was able to not drown in that beautiful cacophony of sounds.

“Since then, Mr. Ledezma has become one of my unofficial guitar mentors. (Let’s not forget my long-standing and ongoing apprenticeship with Cosimo Fabrizio.) Mr. Ledezma and I have kept the good habit of jamming regularly, after school, in my classroom, the home of the Strings Attached Club —the room where it happens. Since we both share a passion for Brazilian music, a few weeks ago, I suggested that we play something by Djavan. “Flor de Lis” is one of his most popular songs. As you will notice, we are back at playing Guitar 1 (Mr. Ledezma: melody) and Guitar 2 (#Profe: chord progression / harmony). And I continue to be a very happy sidekick.”