Healing Through Tunes: The Costly Aid For Honduras’ Music Scene
In the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Iota strained Honduras’ cultural scene and hindered its socioeconomic status.
Although already considered underdeveloped before the pandemic, the music industry in Honduras took a major hit when music professors, composers, and producers saw a decline in bookings. Many singers decided to do virtual shows to stay afloat, and music professors offered online courses to encourage their students to keep practicing.
But how can musicians and producers encourage music lessons and virtual concerts when 66% of the population lives in poverty, and the few families living on minimum wage see music as a luxury or an unnecessary expense?
Composer and producer Carlos Ballesteros knew essentials such as rent, clothing, and food are priorities. Yet, in the midst of hardships, he found inspiration to collaborate with other artists and create a fundraising campaign to bring hope and healing to Honduras’ population through music.
Ballesteros, a virtuoso since the age of six, made a name for himself in the music circles when he enrolled in the Conservatorio Nacional de Música Francisco Ramón Díaz Zelaya, studying classical music, jazz, and rock for nine years. Ballesteros became a devoted Christian and pivoted his career to focus on Christian music and open the first Christian orchestra group in the capital city, Tegucigalpa.
As a pillar of the Honduran musical community, he encouraged other collaborators to join his Todos Por America campaign. He virtually coordinated musicians all over Latin America to spread hope and unity. At the same time, these countries recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Iota and COVID-19.
This is also a personal cause for Ballesteros. In 2020, his music school, Fundamentos: Centro de Estudios Musicales y Arte, was hit by the economic crisis. “We went from three large physical locations to one virtual environment,” said Ballesteros, “For now, about 80% of our student body is from North America, Guatemala, and Panama.” These statistics reflect the economic hardship that Honduras faces because more than 75% of students were local before the pandemic.
“People can’t afford music lessons anymore. Extra-curriculars and hobbies focused especially on music and art aren’t feasible expenses when you have to feed your family and deal with COVID-19 as well as repercussions from the hurricane,” said Ballesteros.
The Comision Economica Para America Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) reported that Hurricane Iota in 2020 caused an estimated $19 million in damages alone, with 20.5 million people affected. In addition, 92,000 Hondurans relied on makeshift shelters, and an extra 60,000 were left homeless.
On top of the hurricane, COVID-19 brought down Honduras’ gross domestic product by 9.7%. The World Bank estimated a 3.8% increase in 2021, making Honduras the slowest country to recover from the pandemic in Latin America.
Singer-songwriter Belinda Pires understood the pressure many Hondurans face. She worked with Ballesteros on multiple occasions last year, hosting Christian music fundraisers for nearby affected villages.
“As a worship leader and a pastor’s wife, I have a straightforward relationship with areas of our country that need help. We quickly needed to develop an online presence to hold on to the little money we could get people to donate through virtual concerts,” said Pires.
For over 30 years, Pires has overlooked the development of La Escuela de Adoradores and church worship leader for the Victory Worship group based in her husband’s congregation. “We used to have concerts for fundraisers at the church, but with COVID-19 restrictions and people not being able to contribute financially, there has been a visible decline in the economic well-being of our church,” said Pires.
Pires continues to mentor Christian musicians in her congregation as well as her institution through virtual classes.
Aside from the educational sector in music, many artists found hardship in promoting their careers in the tense economic environment.
“The main thing musicians need right now is a smooth transition from live events to virtual ones,” said Jean Funez, producer, and guitarist for Hearts of Fire, a metal rock band.
In 2004, Jean Funez formed the rock band Codigo Eterno and released music under that name until the band separated in 2017.
Funez recalled his time touring with Codigo Eterno and saw how essential promotional interviews and concerts were for newer bands. With live concerts and studio sessions transferring themselves into the virtual world, Funez acknowledged the shift in the music scene.
“Everything is online now. You can collaborate and reach a broader audience if you take advantage of the current situation.” Funez said encouraging artists to develop social media marketing skills and learn how to manage themselves with a solid online following.
Funez says that the critical months in 2020 when Honduras went into lockdown for several months where any form of gathering in a private or business environment was illegal forced musicians to modernize how they reach new audiences.
“However, you can’t replicate a live concert’s energy through emails. So, it’s a balance we will all have to learn how to develop,” said Funez.
One of the musicians learning this balance is musician Andres Paredes who had to stop production for his EP as the country went into lockdown. “I needed live concerts and interviews because as an independent artist, I needed to see the public’s reaction to my music,” said Paredes.
Now, over a year later, Paredes feels his music career has strengthened from a composer’s perspective, “I’ve had a lot of time to rework songs and learn how to produce my music. It was a hard compromise at first,” said Paredes.
“ I have hope the music scene will reopen soon, and a balance between virtual collaborations and live concerts will fuse a new path for musicians.”
Many moving parts need development and attention when it comes to the Honduran music scene. From professional musicians to music schools in general, it’s tough to find financial and moral support when the country struggles daily.
Musicians like Ballesteros and Pires hope that Honduras can heal as a community and regain its strength through music.
“If we want to see an improvement, people in this industry must modernize their strategies and adapt to the new post-pandemic world. But that requires money, and right now, many Hondurans can’t afford it,” said Ballesteros.
