Hanscom AFB, MA -- It had already been a pretty good week for Staff Sergeant Mateo Ayala of the Air Force Band of Liberty. On Sunday April 13, his wife Leonor had given birth to their fourth child - and first daughter- Alandra.
Five days later, as Sergeant Ayala was bringing Alandra home from the pediatricians, he saw a "Congratulations" sign on his front door. He assumed it was from one of the neighbors referring to the baby, but as he got closer he realized it was for something else.
That was how Ayala found out he had just won a prestigious composition competition in his native Puerto Rico.
Ayala, a clarinetist with the Band of Liberty, won first prize in the Danza Composition Competition, an annual contest sponsored by the Puerto Rico Senate and the Institute for Puerto Rican Culture (IPC). The sign was courtesy of his wife, who took the call announcing the news.
"I started screaming," Ayala said when he realized what the sign was about. "I looked like a baby. I didn't believe it. It was like the greatest story of the day for me. I told Leanor 'You give birth to babies and I give birth to music.' So this is kind of like my baby."
Ayala's piece, Danza Octatonica No. 1 para Conjunto de Maderas, or Danza Octatonic No. 1 for Woodwind Quintet, won first prize in the Contemporary Danza category, one of four categories in the contest. Danza is a very popular traditional Puerto Rican dance music characterized by a specific form and very syncopated rhythms. For his composition, Ayala played with the form and also used a unique harmonic approach based on the octatonic scale.
"From the research I did, no one had ever composed using that harmonic structure," Ayala said. "So in that way it's a pioneering work. It was difficult using that harmony and changing the form but still keeping it Danza. I think they (the judges) just liked that I was using different elements but keeping the basics of the style."
Ayala's winning composition will be premiered tonight (May 16th) as part of an awards ceremony at the IPC in San Juan. In addition, Ayala will be given $1,000 and his music will be published and used as educational material by the IPC. Although Ayala won't be able to attend the awards ceremony, his mother, father and brother will be there on his behalf as well as many friends.
"It's unfortunate that I won't be able to be there but having my family there is just as good," Ayala said . "This is their award too so it's almost like the same thing as if I was there myself."
Growing up in Toa Alto Puerto Rico, Ayala was exposed to Danza music almost from birth. In fact, the woman who helped take care of him as a baby used to sing it to him all the time. Although he only began composing music few years ago, writing Danza came to Ayala naturally and was a way to honor his heritage.
"I've been listening to that style of music since I was 12 days old, really" Ayala said. "It is who I am and part of my culture. I don't want that to die. It's just a way for me to keep Puerto Rican music alive."
Ayala spent the first 25 years of his life in Puerto Rico and earned a music education degree from the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan. A few years after he graduated, the Air Force held open band auditions at the University and Ayala was the only one of 100 auditionees to be offered a job. He left for basic training just a few days after Sept 11, 2001. After spending his first four years with the USAF Band of the West at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas, Ayala joined the Band of Liberty at Hanscom in September 2005.
While at Lackland, Ayala began composing as a way to become a more versatile musician and found it gave him another outlet to express his musical creativity. He has entered the Danza competition the past four years, previously writing pieces for piano. He orchestrated one of his earlier Danza compositions, Armada Esposa, for concert band and it was performed by the Air Force Band of the West. While he is primarily a clarinetist with the Band of Liberty Concert Band and Bay State Winds clarinet quartet, Ayala plans to continue composing.
"I'm starting to see how this award is just opening other doors," Ayala said. "I've only been composing for four and a half years so it's just a great accomplishment. This is going to be just the beginning."