Lontano
Litanies (1981) for flute (doubling bass flute), string trio and harp is “a memory of a memory” of my early years in Cuba. In it I recall the unclear and very distant scenes of my childhood, recreating in a world of sound the fast and low praying that I heard in church and juxtaposing it with the mixed songs of the fishermen as they celebrated the various holy feast days. The rhythms of the faster sections are based on words sung by the fishermen, and the form of the work is ABACA – always returning to the low intoning of church prayer. Litanies is not a religious composition, but rather, it is a celebration of those simple days as a child in Cuba that are long gone. It’s dedicated to my sister Margarita.
The work was premiered by Lontano at the Wigmore Hall, London in 1981 and later broadcast by BBC Radio 3. It has been widely toured in Ireland and received several performances in the United States. – OdlM
Cuban American composer and conductor Odaline de la Martinez pursues a demanding and successful career composing – particularly opera and conducting repertoire from Mozart symphonies to the latest contemporary music. Martinez was the first woman to conduct a BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall age 34 and has made several return visits since. Martinez studied at Tulane University and the Royal Academy of Music, where she founded her ensemble Lontano in 1976. She obtained her MMus in Composition at the University of Surrey, working under Reginald Smith Brindle.
She has received numerous awards including a Marshall Scholarship from the British Government, the Villa Lobos Medal from Brazil and a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2016 Martinez received composition awards from the USA Cintas Foundation and the British PRS Foundation for Music allowing her to complete Plantation, the final part of her Imoinda Opera Trilogy. The complete trilogy titled Imoinda – A Story of Love and Slavery received its world premiere at the 2019 London Festival of American Music.
In 2017, Martinez received a Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2019 a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Surrey. Also, in 2019 she was awarded a Gold Badge from the Ivors Academy (the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters) as well as a Lukas Lifetime Achievement Award for her achievement as a woman and a member of the Latin American Community.
In 2018 Martinez was featured in two important London exhibitions. The Royal Academy Music “Hitting the Right Note” Exhibition featured Odaline de la Martinez as one of 20 outstanding composers since the foundation of the RAM in 1822. At the same time, Martinez’s photographic portrait was featured at the Royal College of Art Exhibition titled “First 100 Women”.
Martinez was co-curator of Juilliard’s 2020 Trailblazers Festival featuring Trailblazer Women Composers and in 2021 appointed Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey in 2021.
odalinedelamartinez.com 
