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When I was little, I always loved music, ballet, painting, and the arts. I liked that my mom often took me to concerts by the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra. I started ballet when I was young, but when I turned 10, my mom wanted to enroll me in the Antonio Neumane Conservatory of Music. So I had to choose between ballet and music, because both required a lot of time. I chose music. I started studying piano at age 10. I went to the conservatory four days a week from 2pm to 6pm, and I did that until I graduated at 17. I really enjoyed it — I had friends and a community. We didn’t just study an instrument; we also studied music theory, music history, solfège, and harmony. We also had to do recitals, pass exams, and reach a certain grade to move on to the next level — otherwise, we had to repeat the year. At 15, I transferred to the Sergei Rachmaninov Conservatory. Because my parents gave me the opportunity to go to a conservatory, I’ve always felt it was my responsibility to make sure my children studied music too. My goal has always been to give them what I had — and even more. I hope music teaches them perseverance, because my journey was a long one, and I almost gave up on music at several points in my life. When I was close to graduating from the conservatory, I wanted to quit for good, and I remember my teacher telling me, ‘You’re so close, you just have to take the graduation exam,’ and she kept pushing me until I graduated. I learned that even when you feel like giving up — just because the road has gotten hard — you have to keep going and find a way to reach your goal. I hope my children don’t abandon their path — that they come to recognize their talents along the way, that I can support them, and that if they start something, they finish it. But above all, I hope they enjoy it and know they are capable not just of going to school, but of doing whatever they set their minds to.

Anny Guartatanga, INTEMPO Program Coordinator and mom to INTEMPO students Nate and Eduardo