Spotlight on Festival Hill: Isaac Fuentes

Music can be many different things for the individual: an outlet, a hobby, a simple background enjoyment. For Isaac Fuentes, music is a window into a different world.

Isaac Fuentes is a 22 year-old viola player from San Antonio, Texas. After finishing his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas in Austin, Fuentes made the move to Round Top for the summer to participate in the summer orchestra. He wanted to see what a life surrounded by music would look like in anticipation for a possible future career as a full time musician.

“I wanted to see what this life was like,’’ said Fuentes. “I’m finding that music is something that I really need, that I feel like I have to do.”

Like many, Fuentes’ love for music began with participation in elementary school music classes. Fuentes, wanting to play a unique instrument, chose the viola - what he referred to as the “bad instrument” due to its flawed nature.

“They let us choose whatever we wanted and I guess I just wanted to be a weirdo so I chose the viola,” said Fuentes. “The viola is a unique instrument in that it is very imperfect. There are a lot of issues with it.”

Fuentes explained the science behind the viola, an instrument that is built too small to be proportionate to its range. This causes the viola to have a unique sound, which drew Fuentes to an interest in the instrument.

“If you learn how to work with it and harness those imperfections, you can create a sound that is very human, very flawed, that can connect to people in a way that a lot of other instruments can’t. There is something very special about it, I think.”

For Fuentes, this summer has already been a very growing experience in relation to the music world. While this experience is a new adventure for Fuentes, he certainly has an extensive background in the music world. He has been a part of the UT Symphony Orchestra, the Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival, as well as other musical performance groups. Despite his well-rounded background, Fuentes is still finding ways to learn and grow in his art-form.

“Every week it’s a totally new world. That really changes everything, from the culture of how we interact with each other during rehearsal, how we approach the music. It’s different every week, there’s always something new.”

Growing up in San Antonio, Fuentes is not too far from home this summer. His family has been able to attend some of his performances in the orchestra.

“It always feels good to have someone in the audience who you’re playing for. It makes it much more enjoyable to have someone that is there for you.”

When asked why locals should attend the orchestra performances, Fuentes described the festival as being its own sort of “wonderland” - what he considers to be a way to travel the world, or even experience a whole new world entirely, all within the seats of the Round Top Festival Institute.

“It’s very easy to feel like these things are very removed from real life. What [orchestra] really is, for me at least, is a window into an entirely different world. You don’t have to know how to analyze it to be able to come here, experience it, and feel something.”

Fuentes and other musicians in the orchestra will be performing every Saturday at 7:30 p.m. until July 16 at Festival Hill in Round Top. For more information regarding performances go to https://festivalhill.org/.