Projects
The Way of Abiding
D’Arcy’s new large-scale composition is a multi-media work that embraces various musical influences of Mexico: indigenous, Spanish, Cuban, and African. She is collaborating with a local artist, Jesus Lopez Vega, whose family has been in the Lake Chapala region for centuries. The piece reflects the myths, legends and history of Mexico, and the arc of the musical story includes the present-day environmental degradation and healing of the Lake Chapala region.
Click below to contribute to her new work “The Way of Abiding.”
Ajijic Composer Residency
My new project is based in Ajijic, Mexico, and will draw upon indigenous music and other musical influences that came to Mexico from Spain, Africa, and Cuba.
The development of this new composition will be similar to the process that I used to create Cloven Dreams, which is based on South African field recordings and visual imagery from Helen Martin’s Owl House.
In Ajijic, I will be collaborating with a local indigenous artist, Jesus Lopez Vega, whose family has been in the Lake Chapala region for 500 years. The piece will integrate the legends and history of Mexico as depicted in Jesus’s art, along with Mexican and contemporary musical influences. The storyline of the piece will include the present-day environmental degradation of the Lake Chapala region and its impact on the indigenous people of the area.
Jesus Lopez Vega works in varied media , and is particularly known for his murals throughout the state of Jalisco. He is also creating an extraordinary new work, reviewing and illustrating the history of the indigenous people and the migration patterns and cultural influences of the Toltecs and Aztecs. His work examines both the factual history and the various legends, in an extensive Spanish translation from materials based on the Nahua codex. Each page is handwritten in Spanish with his beautiful illustrations woven amongst the text. Jesus is hoping to publish this sweeping historical work in 2031, the 500th anniversary of Ajijic’s founding.
Musical sources in the Ajijic area will include the well-known violinist, Juanpi Medeles and University of Guadalajara ethnomusicologist, Professor Ernesto Cano.
The story of Mexico is so similar to other colonized nations. The indigenous people of Mexico were varied and prosperous prior to the invasion of Cortez in 1519. Through alliances with a faction of locals, the Spanish conquered Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) in 1521.
The Spanish brought Catholicism and missionaries (Franciscan friars) to Mexico to convert the native population. The friars studied the Aztec language, Nahuatl, and taught Catholicism, plain song, polyphonic, music, and European instruments.
The Aztecs and Mayans already had a rich musical tradition integrating poetry, song, rattles, drums, and flutes. The ancient Nahua believed that song embodied divine breath, a view evidenced in the myths that are depicted in pictographs.
The concept of mestizaje (mixture) of racial, social, and musical has long been celebrated in Mexico, and it is quite extraordinary that the indigenous people were conversant in both their own musical traditions and the European music of the time.
As the years went by, there were many artistic influences that came into Mexico, including Spanish, Cuban, and African music. The European wind band tradition expanded to include 19th century Cuban dance form, the danzon. These and other Spanish and African influences combined to create unique Mexican music that evolved into the banda and the mariachi.
Latin Chamber Music
This Latin fusion chamber music is on my new CD, Latin Threads, available on the recordings page.
Tangria, Tango Suite for Piano Trio (2018)
Beni Shinohara, violin
Victoria Ehrlich, cello
Amy Zanrosso, piano
Baldosa Floja (2019)
Composed by Florindo Sassone
Arranged by D’Arcy Reynolds
Beni Shinohara, violin
Victoria Ehrlich, cello
D’Arcy Reynolds, piano
Jardín Cubano for Cello and Piano (2017)
Victoria Ehrlich, cello
D’Arcy Reynolds, piano
Latin Carnival for Cello and Piano (2018)
Victoria Ehrlich, cello
D’Arcy Reynolds, piano
Piano Solos & Duets
The past few years, I’ve been composing more piano solos and duets, and I hope to publish a volume of piano solos in 2026.