Alyssa Mercedes Mena

Born: September 10, 1997, Hialeah, Florida

El Ajiaco for Woodwind Quintet

• Composed: 2025, co-commissioned by Quinteto Sol and Sugar Hill Salon
  
• Premiere: May 30, 2025, by Quinteto Sol, Jackie Robinson Park, New York City
  
• Duration: approx. 5 minutes

Alyssa Mercedes Mena is a Cuban-American flutist, composer and educator based in Miami, Fla. Her work explores storytelling through performance and composition, alongside a commitment to mentorship and community.

As a composer, Mena draws inspiration from her Cuban heritage, weaving themes of identity, memory and cultural connection into her work. Her music often reflects intergenerational stories, honoring the experiences and resilience of her family and community. This tribute is expressed through elements such as Spanish text woven into the music and Latin rhythmic influence. Alongside this, she is committed to expanding the repertoire for auxiliary flutes while writing across the full flute family.

Her work Los Sueños de Mis Abuelos, a chamber piece for flute, oboe and piano, was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony as part of their Through Her Window series. She has also received recent commissions for new works to be premiered at the National Flute Association Convention in 2026, including a work commissioned by the National LGBTQIA+ Flute Choir. Her woodwind quintet El Ajiaco was co-commissioned by Quinteto Sol and the Sugar Hill Salon Chamber Series Collective, an initiative dedicated to centering Black and Brown wind artistry in classical music. Her music has been featured on the albums Unseen//Unheard (Strange Moon Records) and Triptych: New Works for Alto Flute (Austrian Gramophone), contributing to the growing repertoire for alto and bass flute. Her solo alto flute work Hasta La Raíz was premiered at the National Flute Association Convention, published by Coleman Page Publishing, and received the 2025 NFA Newly Published Music Competition award.

Deeply committed to collaboration and community engagement, Mena is a core member of the Sugar Hill Salon Chamber Series Collective in New York City, where she helps present outreach concerts that highlight underrepresented wind repertoire. alyssamena.com

Mena describes El Ajiaco as follows:

El Ajiaco was co-commissioned by NYC’s premier all-Latin woodwind quintet Quinteto Sol and Sugar Hill Salon. It celebrates cultural heritage and creative collaboration between myself, a Cuban-American composer, and Quinteto Sol, whose members are of Colombian and Mexican descent. The piece draws inspiration from three iconic songs — Chan Chan (Cuba), La Llorona (Mexico) and La Cumbia Sampuesana (Colombia) — not as direct arrangements, but through their atmosphere, gesture and emotional world. Each of these works is deeply rooted in the musical and cultural traditions of the countries they come from. Chan Chan reflects Cuban rural life and the resilience of its people, La Llorona (“The Weeping Woman”) evokes the haunting emotional depth of Mexican folklore and La Cumbia Sampuesana captures the vibrant communal spirit of family and celebration. The title references a traditional Latin American soup, symbolizing the blending of distinct cultural “flavors” into one communal work. Ultimately, the piece is a tribute to identity, shared stories and the power of collaboration.