Matthew Muñeses

Description

Matthew Muñeses is a saxophonist and educator residing in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

He has led bands at a number of historic venues across the country, including the Green Mill and Andy's Jazz Club in Chicago, Catalina Bar & Grill in Los Angeles, and the Kranzberg Arts Center in St. Louis. In addition to his work as a performer, Matthew is passionate about educating future generations of musicians, and his private students have received awards from the prestigious Young Arts Organization, and have successfully auditioned at colleges including the Manhattan School of Music and New England Conservatory.

His new project, Noli Me Tángere, is a tribute to the life, legacy, and compositions of José Rizal, the first national hero of the Philippines, and was recorded in May of 2021 with a world-class band featuring Clark Sommers, Dana Hall, Stu Mindeman, Zubin Edalji, and Miguel Zenón.

Matthew is a P. Mauriat and D'Addario Woodwinds Performing Artist.

Work Sample

Title: Noli Me Tángere - II. Cruelty and Injustice (comp. Muñeses)
Date presented: 5/10/21
Tot. Run Time: 11:55
Personnel:
Matthew Muneses - Alto Saxophone
Jon Irabagon - Tenor Saxophone
Stu Mindeman - Piano
Clark Sommers - Bass
Dana Hall - Drums

Add'l Info:
Noli Me Tángere Suite -
This suite represents my impressions of major themes in Rizal's novel: oppression and injustice, hope and faith. The Latin phrase noli me tangere was used in Rizal's time to describe a cancer of the eyelids; as an ophthalmologist by training, Rizal chose these words to allude to the Philippine natives' blindness to the corrupt practices of the government and clergy. I wrote this music in the hope of promoting change towards a more racially just and equitable society.

II. Cruelty and Injustice
The twin alto parts symbolize the brothers Basilio and Crispín, altar boys frequently accused of stealing from the Church at the expense of their mother’s mental health. This movement conveys the pain of trying to stand together, only to be torn apart by the cruelty of others.

Title: Kundiman ni Rizal (comp. Buencamino/Rizal, arr. Muñeses)
Date presented: 5/10/21
Tot. Run Time: 13:26
Personnel:
Matthew Muneses - Alto Saxophone
Zubin Edalji - Trumpet
Stu Mindeman - Piano
Clark Sommers - Bass
Dana Hall - Drums

Add'l Info:
Kundiman ni Rizal
A kundiman is a love song, traditionally a serenade from a young man to the woman of his affections. The text of Kundiman ni Rizal was written by Rizal and the musical setting composed by Francisco Buencamino, and they express Rizal’s intense love for his Philippine motherland and of his vision of a sovereign Philippine nation. This work also shows how Filipino culture is inextricably linked with Spanish culture; the Spanish influence, both rhythmically and harmonically, is most apparent here.

The work samples both feature from my upcoming record, "Noli Me Tángere," written in tribute to the eponymous novel and legacy of Filipino polymath and revolutionary, José Rizal. One is an arrangement of a poem he wrote, and the other is part of a suite I wrote based on themes from the novel. I am pursuing a path which will produce more of this type of work - music stemming from the Filipino diaspora.

History

I have been performing professionally in and around Chicago for almost 10 years now, and after taking some time to focus on raising my two young children starting in 2017, I have been resuming my work - beginning last year with forming a new working ensemble featuring world-class musicians - Clark Sommers, Dana Hall, Stu Mindeman, and Zubin Edalji. I have been pursuing new opportunities for this ensemble and will be releasing our first record as the bandleader for this group this coming June.

Artistic Vision

My musical heroes have, by and large, drawn heavily upon their cultural heritage in their musical output. Paramount of these heroes has been Miguel Zenón, whose recorded output almost exclusively draws from musical traditions from his home of Puerto Rico. As a first-generation Filipino-American, I have spent much of my life trying to reconcile my attempts to assimilate into American culture with my desire to learn and live more of my Filipino heritage. In my music, I have been trying to synthesize the many musical and cultural traditions which I draw from - the Philippines (and by extension Spain and China), the United States (meaning the classical and jazz traditions inherent to the country). I hope to present music that represents these elements honestly.