Rising Stars: Meet Óscar Salamanca of OTR, Cincinnati

Today we’d like to introduce you to Óscar Salamanca

Hi Óscar, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I believe a good way to understand the purpose is to understand the history, the social and cultural context where ideas and the work has been founded.

I was born and raised in the 90s in Bogotá, Colombia. The geopolitical situation serves as a catalyst for curiosity. My first approach was the guitar, and then, shortly after starting my music journey, I had the opportunity to learn from local teachers and immerse myself into the Andean cosmovision from a very young age. This allowed me to understand that music, like any other art form, is just a tool, and the important tool is the one that seeks, nurtures, and grows the community. In that manner, I started to learn different instruments, particularly indigenous instruments, from different regions of Latin America.
As mentioned before, due to its geographical location, Bogotá introduced me to a wide landscape of Latin American music, from North America to the Caribbean, the music of the beginning of South America, and walking down the path of the Spinal Cord of the Americas, which is the Andean Mountain Range. All of this richness has grown in me through school, and then while doing my studies in Music Education, I had the opportunity to travel through performance, but most importantly, through education.

In that regard, I was called to start my adventure of teaching and performing here in the United States back in 2013. I had the opportunity to work with different communities of Latinos who wanted to learn music through their culture.
After years of working with the local communities in Ohio, and forging together a strong team of educators, musicians, dancers, visual artist and other professional artists we’ve decided on build up a company that brings not only Latin American culture but also, many other cultures of the world that, at the end, is what enriches, the United States culture.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been smooth, but within the challenging moments, we’ve been able to see the hunger for social interaction and the effort of many to portray and see the differences among the communities that constitute Cincinnati, meaning that the people have been losing the fear, and let the curiosity educate about the neighbor, the other, and in that manner, not only to respect each other but to embrace the richness that these interactions bring. However, I believe the biggest struggle could be the lack of attention and education about how to receive the information. Since we are in an age of fast access to it, the capacity for retention and processing has diminished considerably.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
As mentioned before, we are currently working on our first Big Band album, a multimedia project that involves music, storytelling, dancing, acting, and playing, including the visual aspect; inviting to the observer to enter to a safe space where the Latin American culture is not only at reach but also to generate conversations about diversity, immigration, integration and curiosity.

For the past 20+ years, I’ve been researching and getting involved with Latin America, from the cultural aspect, not only through its music, but more importantly, from the convivence with its people, having, in that manner, a chance to find the commonalities and cultural traits that relates us, but also, enriching my personal language with the differences, which has helped a lot in showing this, first to the multiple artist working with La Fórmula, as well as the people curious about Latin America.
I’m a multi-instrumentalist and dancer, what means that I study and perform through different musical instruments, understanding their origins, social and cultural impact, relationship with the performer, organology and technicalities, not only playing regular western typical instruments, but also instruments with indigenous origins, which are not only played from the technical standpoint but also from an entire cosmovision, sometimes strange to us, in fact, currently I’ve been studying Turkish music and their instrumentation, which is a very different musical system that the one use in the west. This means that also, I have an interest in understanding what is traditional and respect it in that manner, and on the other hand, to be able to mix, explore and help others to create with these tools.

One of many achievements I can be proud of is how diverse our team is within La Fórmula, I dare to say that among the 40+ artists that work together, there are at least 20 different countries represented, not only from Latin America but from the entire world. It is also important to mention that La Fórmula has won the 2023 award for fastest growing business in Ohio, by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

I believe that a way to set ourselves apart would be talking about our objective.
The objective isn’t the music, it is a tool. The objective isn’t the dance, it is a tool.

The objective is our community. The objective is our culture.

The objective is to grow together as one, understanding the commonalities and respecting our differences.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Hard to answer as a unique answer. Even though, in order to be relevant, the professional life, the creative life, and the business life need attention and work, none of that matters if there are no relationships. So, that is what matters the most to me, to connect those three into a genuine relationship, not only with the team members but also with the people seeking our services.

Pricing:

• Performance: $150 per musician, mentioning we have different ensemble sizes, from individuals to 40+ performers.
• Clases: Music and/or Dancing: $60hr individual, $20 group sessions.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://laformulamusicprod.wixsite.com/home
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laformulamusicproductions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaFormulaMusicProductions
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@laformulamusicproductions3175