Interview with Juan Luqui, Murder at the Ballet Composer
/A new ballet is coming, and it’s not what you expect.
Get ready for ballet like you’ve (really) never experienced before. This October, Ballet Fantastique brings you the world’s first-ever interactive murder mystery ballet. BFan’s Murder at the Ballet premieres on the Hult Center stage Oct. 24-27, 2024, with a NW tour to follow (Moses Lake, WA: Nov. 1, 2024).
Juan luqui at BFan's 2021 nye performance of arrivals:rio
BFan is deeply honored to have commissioned an original, full-length musical score by international award-winning composer Juan Luqui. Our local and international livestream audiences may remember Juan from his work with us back in 2021 for our NYE performance ARRIVALS: RIO.
The concept not only that BFan should premiere an interactive murder mystery ballet, but also to commission this music from Juan, came from Ballet Fantastique Ballet Master and Principal Dancer Gustavo Ramirez and Principal Dancer Ashley Bontrager, who immediately thought of Juan as the perfect composer to capture the dark, mysterious tone of this ballet.
Juan’s inimitable original music, creative vision, and capacity as a multi-instrumentalist made him a natural fit for this production. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Juan has made a significant impact on the Hollywood music scene, with notable credits including Finch (2021), The Last of Us series (2020, 2023), Liebes Kind, and many, many more.
Juan’s new compositions and arrangements for Murder at the Ballet premiere have been uniquely written to match our Creative Team’s story libretto, character profiles, and Donna, Hannah, and Gustavo’s intricate new choreography as the story unfolds—and the audience participates. In every way, Juan has knocked it out of the park: The score heightens the story’s drama and pulls the audience in.
Just days before he jetted off to Europe for an international tour, we had the chance to sit down with Juan to learn more about his music career and hear his inside perspective on the creative process for creating a brand new score for Ballet Fantastique’s Murder at the Ballet.
—Interview with Isabelle Bloodgood
First, please tell us a little bit more about yourself and your career in music! Where did you get started?
I've been playing guitar for nearly thirty years, starting at the age of six after an arm injury. Learning guitar became a form of therapy for me. I initially played in rock bands, focusing on guitar solos, but eventually discovered classical music, which drew me in. At thirteen, I attended a music conservatory, and after high school, I earned a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Are you working on anything currently (besides the score for Murder at the Ballet)?
I am producing some albums, and now I am starting on the Last of Us Season 2, literally next month!
We are so excited to have you creating a brand new score for this performance. You have written music for other genres before, how different is it creating a full-length score for a ballet?
Juan Luqui watching the dancers rehearse murder at the ballet
It’s such an incredible amount of music, and I love it! For me, it’s so liberating because I get to be completely free. Whatever comes to mind, I just write it. There’s no time to second-guess myself since it’s an hour and a half of music—it’s like a creative purge. It’s so fulfilling that I actually want to do it all over again, maybe even a few more times!
I think everyone here at BFan will be very excited to hear that! Have there been any unexpected challenges creating the music?
No, actually unexpectedly everything went really smoothly! Hannah, Donna, and the entire creative team at BFan were so welcoming of the process. It felt really refreshing because, with most scores, it's like, “Oh no, you have to do it again because the character looked this way,” and everything is so precise. But with this, as long as I captured the right emotions and moods, that was enough. It was incredibly fulfilling!
You originally performed with Ballet Fantastique at the Hult Center for the NYE premiere of ARRIVALS:RIO in 2021. What are you most looking forward to in this next BFan collaboration?
The live shows! Conducting the performance while watching you all dance is going to be so much fun. Right now, I try not to think about it too much or I’ll get too stressed! But when the time comes, I’ll be ready, and it’s going to be amazing. I’m also really excited to see how the audience reacts—that’s the real test. Being there and seeing their response will tell us if we truly nailed it or not!
Our Murder at the Ballet performance is set in the 19th century. How has this time period influenced the score you created? Tell us about the process of choosing instruments to compliment a more contemporary ballet .
JUan Luqui at Ballet in the vineyard PC Erin Beltran
I think it definitely limited the instrumentation I could use, but in a good way. I couldn’t use synths or anything modern—I wanted to stick to traditional instruments that would’ve existed in that time period. Well, except for the guitar—I cheated a little there since I’m a guitarist! But it’s subtle and mostly in the background. Otherwise, I stayed true to classical instruments and gave the piano a bit of an edge, imagining it sounding like an old honky-tonk piano in a London bar. It put a limit on what I could use and what I couldn’t, which was also very nice.
That’s true, I would imagine having some restraints rather than a million options would help.
Yes! This computer has so many instruments, that sometimes I do not know where to start! It’s nice to limit yourself.
Our dancers are very excited to get to perform to your live music! Does working with dancers influence how you create the music as opposed to creating music for the television or video game?
Absolutely! I always thought it was important for the music to inspire someone to want to move. I’d definitely be interested in the reverse—seeing a dance first and then composing music for it, rather than creating music and the choreography happening afterwards. I love to dance, so I had to feel some sort of movement while I was creating the music. I’m constantly checking in with my own body, which if it’s for a film score, I don’t do that.
JUan Luqui at Ballet in the vineyard PC Erin Beltran
What do you think audiences love about this show?
Everything! The interactive aspect, in particular, will be a lot of fun and also a bit challenging for some people. I am creating a piece of music that will happen during the voting, so I am very curious to see how the interactive part turns out.
Don't miss your chance to experience this incredible score and unique performance come to life in Ballet Fantastique’s world premiere of Murder at the Ballet, Oc. 24-27 at the Hult Center for Performing Arts.
TICKETS TO KILL FOR: Get your Murder at the Ballet world premiere tickets now, before we sell out. (Inside tip: BFan season tickets are the best deal and lock in your seats and savings for the year.)
WATCH FOR IT: Juan’s original score for Ballet Fantastique’s Murder at the Ballet will be released on Spotify later in 2024. Watch for it!
