Nicaraguan composer and pianist Donald Vega’s hard-luck story

The character’s story we are going to talk about today is extremely fascinating, since the challenges he has had to endure did not prevent him from becoming the great musician he is now. We are talking about Donald Vega and the inspiration he is for those who believe their dreams and goals impossible to achieve.

Donald Vega and his interesting story

Donald Vega is a composer and jazz pianist born in Masaya, Nicaragua, whose family has had musicians for several generations. His grandfather, Don Alberto Gutiérrez Laguna was a composer and multi-instrumentalist and had a love for music that was passed down through his children as they grew older. This was the case of his uncle, Tránsito Gutiérrez, who was honored in 2022 at the Rubén Dario National Theater for his great artistic career.

Tránsito was one of the great inspirations for his nephew to become interested in music and play the piano at the tender age of three, guided only by his ear. His grandfather Alberto, seeing this, wanted to teach his grandson Donald to read music and prepare him as well as possible for the future. As part of this preparation, he attended the conservatory to study the greatest exponents of classical music such as Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart. 

Unfortunately, his parents quickly understood that the country was not safe for their son to pursue his dreams. 

Challenges of adolescence 

At that time, 15- and 16-year-olds were forced to join the Nicaraguan army, so his mother left the Central American country to find a way to get him and his siblings out of there and give them a better future far from armed conflict. Something that struck him at that time was that there were many wakes in his neighborhood where the body was not even present, but some parts of the military uniform such as the helmet or boots. This led his mother to want to get her son out of the country, so she got him a visa to go to Mexico so he could cross the land border into the United States with his godmother. 

His first stop was Los Angeles, where he joined his mother and applied for political asylum. At that moment, he did not have any resources to buy instruments, but he received a scholarship at a conservatory where he got much support to train properly despite the want of money.

While in school, a music teacher heard him play the piano and invited him to participate in a national music competition in Los Angeles where he won first place and was given 5000 dollars and a piano as a gift. It can be said that this was his official start in the world of music, so he is very grateful to have participated in the competition.

Sometime later, he received a scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and the Juilliard School of Music, of which he is now a music teacher.

Golden Striker Trio

The opportunity to belong to the Golden Striker Trio is described by Donald as incredible, since it has been a fascinating experience with an interesting beginning.

It all started when a Ron Carter’s student at Juilliard, with whom Donald made a recording together in New Orleans to be shown to Professor Carter to determine what aspects needed to be improved. Carter was so fascinated with Donald that he asked to meet him and talk with him to learn more about his work.

When they met, the professor proposed the artist to watch him live in one of his performances. After that, he had him come to his home to tell him that he was giving him the opportunity to participate in his Golden Striker Trio as a pianist, since the previous one wanted to dedicate more time to his own group. Donald has been working with Carter and his group for more than 15 years and is very grateful for what he has achieved and learned. 

Backcountry Jazz   

Backcountry Jazz is a non-profit organization that seeks to support talented youngsters with limited resources to achieve their dreams in the music industry. Donald has become part of this noble initiative motivated by the teachings of his parents, who have always told him to be generous and give of his time to others. It is for this same reason that he also teaches at the Juilliard School of Music, since sharing his time and knowledge with others gives him an incredible satisfaction.

Due to the situation he himself experienced with lack of money and instruments in order to get ahead in his passion, he understands perfectly how children and young people who do not have the resources to be successful with music feel, so he seeks to give them a hand through this organization and his mentoring.

Grammy Nomination for As I Travel

Donald talks about ”As I Travel” as a description of the path he had to pass to become the musician he is today. He was also inspired by his journey across more than 44 countries he has visited with different musicians including, of course, Ron Carter.

The whole album is inspired by his experiences. An example of that is ”Baila! Dance Like No One’s Watching”, which is inspired by the happiness of those around him, especially his son, his biggest inspiration for writing the song. It is a celebration of life, family and his countrymen in Nicaragua.

Another example worthy of mention is ”I Know I can Fly”, which was inspired by the host of challenges he faced upon arrival to the United States and the whole process of adapting to the country, its lifestyle, its climate and its language. It was also inspired by his determination to succeed despite all the challenges he faced along the way. 

Read also: Cuban pianist Daniel Amat achieves his dream abroad