Uploaded April 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Visions for Frida Kahlo | Melissa Aldana (orch. by Alan Baylock)
I. Frida
II. Diego
III. Godmother
Featuring:
Melissa Aldana, saxophone
Musician 1st Class Patrick MacAvinue, fiddle
Musician 1st Class Chad Crummel, vibraphone
Chief Musician Andrew Francisco, alto saxophone
Musician 1st Class Ally Albrecht, trumpet
Chief Musician Shawn Purcell, guitar
Chief Musician Brandon May, piano
Musician 1st Class Kevin McDonald, drums
"When I was young, I was really into painting with oil. And I used to do what was very similar to transcribing. I would get a painting that I liked, and I would just start painting to imitate. I never took lessons or anything, but I learned a lot from Frida. These paintings, I grew up with them from when I was very young. I thought that that would be important because oftentimes when I write music, and this is a large project, in the middle I tend to forget the core image—where it’s coming from, where it started from. So, when I got offered the commission, I thought, ‘Okay it’s going to be about Frida Kahlo, it’s going to be this scope and these paintings, and different people that surrounded her life.’ So I wrote it all down on a piece of paper and this is what I had in front of my piano while wrote the suite. That was my reminder. Every time I felt like I lost the core, or the sense of direction, I would go back to that." - Melissa Aldana
Visions for Frida Kahlo | Melissa Aldana (orch. by Alan Baylock)
I. Frida
II. Diego
III. Godmother
Featuring:
Melissa Aldana, saxophone
Musician 1st Class Patrick MacAvinue, fiddle
Musician 1st Class Chad Crummel, vibraphone
Chief Musician Andrew Francisco, alto saxophone
Musician 1st Class Ally Albrecht, trumpet
Chief Musician Shawn Purcell, guitar
Chief Musician Brandon May, piano
Musician 1st Class Kevin McDonald, drums
"When I was young, I was really into painting with oil. And I used to do what was very similar to transcribing. I would get a painting that I liked, and I would just start painting to imitate. I never took lessons or anything, but I learned a lot from Frida. These paintings, I grew up with them from when I was very young. I thought that that would be important because oftentimes when I write music, and this is a large project, in the middle I tend to forget the core image—where it’s coming from, where it started from. So, when I got offered the commission, I thought, ‘Okay it’s going to be about Frida Kahlo, it’s going to be this scope and these paintings, and different people that surrounded her life.’ So I wrote it all down on a piece of paper and this is what I had in front of my piano while wrote the suite. That was my reminder. Every time I felt like I lost the core, or the sense of direction, I would go back to that." - Melissa Aldana
