Los Alamos composer/musician Matt Hanson. Courtesy photo
COMMUNITY News:
The remake of the1954 classic movie Salt of the Earth will shine a spotlight on Los Alamos composer/musician Matt Hanson at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 1 at The Lensic in Santa Fe.
While growing up in Los Alamos, Hanson participated in band and orchestra from elementary school through high school, graduating from Los Alamos High School in 2008. At an early age, he showed a remarkable aptitude for music composition and performance.
His parents played classical music for him and, on one occasion at age 5, after listening to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, he began crying when it finished. After playing it two more times, his mother decided another distraction needed to be found. Hanson also demonstrated an amazing memory for music and had the ability to discern the absolute pitch of a note. He began violin in the Chamisa Elementary School orchestra but quickly became fascinated with the trombone, constructing paper models with working slides. When he received his first trombone, he immediately played several simple melodies on it. Apparently, he had learned where the notes were by watching students in the band.
While in middle school, Hanson arranged the music from the film The Lord of the Rings for his advanced band. As a freshman at Los Alamos High School, he composed a symphony for the Los Alamos Symphony. While participating in the LAHS Symphonic Orchestra (violin), he became interested in the double bass, perhaps because the orchestra didn’t have a bass player. He performed on the bass in an orchestra concert only a few weeks after taking it up. During his senior year, Hanson was selected to the American String Teachers National Honor Orchestra on violin, the first Los Alamos student to be accorded this honor. A little known, but very high honor Hanson received from his peers was “Most Musical” of the senior class.
Hanson entered the University of New Mexico, with a music performance scholarship on both the violin and bass. While at UNM, he played first violin in the UNM Symphony Orchestra, studying with Professor Carmelo de Los Santos. His sophomore year, he switched to bass, studying with Prof. Mark Tatum, and become Principal Bassist in his senior year.
After graduating from UNM in 2014, Hanson met Jon Hendry, the head of the International Alliance of Theater and Stage Employees union (IATSE Local 480) and was asked to re-score the music for Salt of the Earth, a 1954 classic movie filmed in New Mexico about Mexican-American workers who protested unsafe work conditions and unequal wages compared to their Anglo counterparts at the Empire Zinc Mine in Silver City.
Since April is United Nations Autism Awareness Month, it is appropriate to acknowledge that Hanson suffers from autism spectrum disorder. During Sunday night’s event, he (violin) and three other musicians, Jan MacDonald (trumpet), Richard Snider (bass) fellow UM graduate, Chris Livingston (guitar) will give a live performance of the film score.
Salt of the Earth begins at 7 p.m. Prior to that there will be entertainment beginning at 1 p.m. with short films, food and a presentation by Jim Hightower, a nationally know political commentator. Also Cassidy Freeman from Longmire, cast members from Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul will be celebrating. At 3 p.m., Dist. 43 Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard will present a play reading. Many state legislators will be at the event. Visit Lensic.org to order tickets. The cost of the film is $25, Jim Hightower is $40, and $100 for the entire event.