Welcome to the Composer Happy Hour episode eight. Thank you so much for listening. If you haven't already, consider giving us a follow on Instagram. We'd love to have you as a part of our online community.
Our guest for this episode is David V. Montoya. David and I have known each other for some time now, and I am delighted to have him on the show. David was actually instrumental in helping to carve out an early identity for whateverandeveramen. Were fortunate to not only premiere some of his music - but it remains the only official "studio" recording of the group available online. In addition to writing music, he is a very fine high school choir director and this experience has surely influenced his writing as he has a number of pieces that are very well suited for a high school ensemble. More recently he has composed several multi-movement, more extended works that demonstrate his evolution as a composer: "Songs of Fatherhood", "Our True Heritage", and "Magdalene." In our conversation, Dave talks about looking forward to one day having more time to compose - and I can't wait to hear what he produces. In today's episode we discuss musical mentors, books, and the musical stylings of Steely Dan.
As always, if you like what you hear - buy us a beer! Your contributions will help to fund future projects by whateverandeveramen.
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David V. Montoya (b. 1968) received a bachelor of arts degree in music education from California State University, Los Angeles (1992), and a master of music degree from the University of Nevada, Reno (1998). He has taught in the Southern California public school system for 29 years, teaching both junior high and senior high school music. Currently, he is teaching as a member of the La Habra High School HiARTS program where he directs the choirs and teaches guitar, piano and ukulele. He also founded and directs the one and only La Habra High School Ukulele Ensemble. This ensemble has appeared in newspapers and on television, was a featured performance group at the 9th annual Southern California Ukulele Festival, and played on stage with Bill Tapia and Janet Klein. In the 2009-2010 school year Montoya was named LHHS Teacher-of-the-Year. In November 2017, he was inducted into the Youth-on-the-Move International Educator's Hall of Fame in a ceremony where his students performed, and he played the ukulele.
As a composer Montoya's music, including African Processional: "Jambo rafiki yangu," has been performed throughout the world by high schools, colleges, churches, and such prestigious groups as the Choral Arts Initiative, the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants, El Café Chorale (Costa Rica), the Kansas City Chorale, Louisiana State University A Cappella Choir, the Philippine Chamber Singers, and the Grammy Award-winning Phoenix Chorale. His compositions range from a cappella and accompanied choral music (from the silly to the sacred) to works for solo voice, guitar, piano, harp, brass, ukulele, and even harmonica. Montoya has spent his career making music in various churches around Southern California as a conductor, composer, tenor soloist and cantor. As a choral musician, he has performed with such fine organizations as the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Pacific Chorale, the Singers of the Chapel of Charlemagne (an all-Gregorian Chant choir) and he has sung under the baton of such great conductors as John Alexander, Carl St. Clair, John Mauceri, Bobby McFerrin, Seiji Ozawa, Paul Salamunovich, and Roger Wagner. He was once invited to prepare a group of his high school students to sing with Grammy Award-winning chanteuse, Rickie Lee Jones.
Montoya served as the Repertoire and Resources Chair for Choral Composition on the California Choral Directors Association (CCDA) board for six years. In this capacity, Montoya founded and edited the newly introduced CCDA Choral Series on Pavane Publishing (Allan Petker, editor), giving voice to new choral works generated by CCDA and its composers. He also founded and administrated the CCDA/George Heussenstamm Composition Competition at ECCO which has been running yearly since 2016. Montoya is also a member of the Southern California Vocal Association (SCVA), the California Teachers Association (CTA), and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). In his work with various professional organizations, he has been a workshop presenter for the national conference of Advanced Placement teachers, California ACDA summer conference at ECCO, and the California Ukulele Festival.
In his "spare" time, he enjoys making music on his collection of instruments from various world cultures. Many thoughtful hours have gone by playing on instruments from his collection of ukuleles, his sitar, tamboura, oud, saz, didgeridoo, Native American flutes, bowed psaltery, lever harp, and harmonicas. In his spare, spare time, he loves to play chess and is an active member of the United States Chess Federation. (Add him as a friend on www.chess.com - username davypavy.) He is also a bonsai enthusiast with more than forty trees under his care. Montoya lives in Southern California with his wife Patricia, his three sons, David Thomas (19), Joseph (18), Matthew (14) and the family canine Dusty (8). Montoya studies composition with his dear friend and teacher, noted author/composer, William Allaudin Mathieu. He is also a student and friend of composer/author George Heussenstamm and is the caretaker of the entire collection of Heussenstamm scores and recordings. Montoya studied jazz ukulele with the late, great, acclaimed uke master Bill "Tappy" Tapia, who passed away in December of 2012 just one month shy of his 104th birthday. Bill was known as the oldest living professional performing musician in the world and he made music right up to the very end.
All Recordings Used by Permission of the Composer:
"Three Poems of St. John of the Cross"
Louisiana State University A Cappella
"African Processional"
US Air Force Singing Sergeants
"Songs of Fatherhood" (2014)
whateverandeveramen.
"Peace is Every Step" (2017)
Glass City Singers
"Light of Mary" (2017)
Choral Arts Initiative
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