Echoing Aire Duo

Echoing Aire Duo

Melissa Montoya Vocals, Ronaldo Baca guitar and oud

Echoing Aire is a newly formed classical vocal and guitar duo composed of Soprano Melissa Montoya and Guitarist Ronaldo Baca.  Based in Bernalillo, New Mexico, Echoing Aire duo focuses on keeping the musical traditions of the past  alive in the present day.  With a strong emphasis on folk music and the music of Spain and Latin America,  the duo seeks to present little known compositions to modern audiences.  In addition to folk music, duo enthusiastically performs modern compositions as well.  Their latest project, Siglos en Olvido features ancient Sephardic songs with Oud and traditional percussion as well as modern compositions by Spanish Composers Lorenzo Palomo and Francisco Jauregui.  The duo will often incorporate other musicians within their concerts, creating a sonically interesting show.  Siglos en Olvido honors deep ancestral ties to Spain shared by Melissa and Ronaldo and will take the listener on a journey through centuries lost to time.  


 

Ronaldo Baca, guitar and Oud

An accomplished performer of Flamenco, Jazz, Classical Guitar, and the Arabic lute or Oud, Ronaldo has been playing for New  Mexico audiences for over 30 years at venues such as the National  Hispanic Culture Center of New Mexico, El Rey, Albuquerque  Convention Center, La Posada Hotel, Cafe Broadway, Silk Road, and  the Santa Fe Play House.  Outside of New Mexico he has performed  in Hollywood, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Denver, CO, Lawrence,KA,Amarillo,TX, and Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. Most recently, he has performed as a soloist with the Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus at St. Francis Cathedral. 

Ronaldo has been studying, composing, teaching, and performing  music for 35 years. He began to study classical guitar at the  age of thirteen under Hector Pimentel.  Under the influence of his grandfather, his interests broadened to include Flamenco.  He has studied Flamenco for 26 years under the guidance of Juan Junquera Cortez, Santiago Moreno,  Pedro Cuadra, Chuscales, Pedro Cortez and Roberto Castellon. 

In addition to Classical and Flamenco music, Ronaldo has also become an accomplished Middle Eastern Oud performer. His Oud teachers consist of well known maestros from both the Arabic and Turkish cultures, namely Naser Musa, Haig Manoukian, and Necati Celik. 

For over a year, he studied and lived in Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucia, Spain, with a Moorish echo in the background, amongst  the true Flamencos of the present day.  Ronaldo is performer of immense depth and brings to Flamenco and Middle Eastern  music an aggressive style and an instinctive understanding of its underlying Pathos while giving classical performances space for sensitivity and grace. 

 

 


 

ronaldobaca.com

Melissa Montoya, Mezzo Soprano

Melissa Renee Montoya is an Albuquerque based vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and artist.  Melissa is best known as a classical mezzo-soprano, specializing in opera, oratorio and art song. Her her classical training has enabled her to venture into almost any style.  Melissa is currently the frontwoman in a vintage jazz band called Swing Magique, one of two singers in the flamenco troupe Flamenco d'Aki and is part of the Echoing Aire duo with accomplished guitarist Ronaldo Baca.   

Melissa received her Masters degree in vocal performance from the University of New Mexico in 2008.  She has appeared on stage as Larina in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, the Mistress of the Novices in Puccini’s Suor Angelica Praskovia in Lehar’s the Merry Widow and as Harriet in Musical Theater Southwest’s production of The Civil War.  In concert, Ms. Montoya has been a soloist in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s Christ Lag in Todes Banden, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem.  As a recitalist, Ms. Montoya specializes in Spanish and Latin American art song and the music of Mahler.  Ever versatile, Melissa also plays guitar, ukulele, and flute. Passionate about teaching, Melissa has a private vocal studio and teaches voice at the Albuquerque Institute of Music.  When she's not working as a musician, Melissa is painting, playing with clay, and can be found hiking in the vast New Mexico wilderness with her miniature Pinscher Lily. 

Echoing Air sample tracks