nosotros hemos puesto los muertos

Nosotros hemos puesto los muertos was commissioned by Eutopia Ensemble for the 2021 “smell of protest” call for scores. This work was awarded the 2022 Suzanne & Lee Ettelson Composer's Award. 

In 2018, Nicaraguan president Daniel Oretga killed over 300 peaceful protesters, the worst wave of political violence in Latin America in over 40 years. The title of this piece roughly translates to “we are the ones who put the dead,'' in reference to the public statement that student opposition leader Lesther Alemán said directly to Ortega in 2018. We, the citizens of Nicaragua, have paid in blood for Ortega’s ambitions to remain in power.

Since the protests, Ortega has tightened his grip by imprisoning anyone who publicly opposes him and stealing elections. This work is a personal cry of anger and frustration: the piece builds slowly and steadily to a violent, brutal climax that never resolves. Buried within the work’s textures are two motives: a message to Ortega whispered through the flute, begging him “no mas” (“no more”), and distorted fragments of the Nicaraguan revolutionary song “Nicaragua, Nicaragüita” - a musical representation of my country’s bruised spirit under Ortega, and a tune that any Nicaraguan will recognize.

This work is dedicated to all of the victims who have suffered at the hands of Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo.