Jesus Martinez Oral History

Exhibit Label: Originally from San Juan, Texas, in the part of the state known as “the Valley,” Jesus Martinez grew up in a musical family. He always wanted to be a drummer and was a member of the high school marching band. He attended his first orchestra concert in college and fell in love with orchestral music. Martinez describes himself as a programmatic composer: he finds a story that captivates him, that is something he feels he could invest his time in, and then creates music for it. He spoke Spanish first as a child, then English, but today he sees music as the universal language, the best way for him to tell stories. (Text from Special exhibit, "Art Reframes History," on view on the Museum's seventh floor from September 9, 2020 through May 9, 2021)

Composer and musician Jesus Martinez has participated in three oral history interviews with The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. This first interview from November 13, 2018, was recorded three months prior to the premiere performance of "The Sixth Floor." Martinez discussed how he initially approached composing this commissioned piece. He recalled, "I was thinking about it and doing a lot of research. I came to the thought that, well, you know, I'm thirty-one. Most of my generation knows a little bit about JFK obviously through school and their own research. But I wanted to recreate it. I wanted to recreate the assassination in a way." -- Stephen Fagin, Curator