Healing Through Music: Amanda Martinez on Grief, Mental Health & Her Album Recuerdo
Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman
06/21/25
•74m
About
Comments
Featured In
Amanda Martinez writes and records mostly in Spanish, the language of her Mexican dad who biked all the way from Mexico to Canada, and you’ll learn how Amanda’s recent album Recuerdo helped her process her grief going through the illness and death of her father. Amanda is also an actor, and you’ll hear about some of her experiences acting, including My Little Pony, Kim’s Convenience and Rosie’s Rules for which she has composed songs. Amanda came to her acting and music career after pursuing science and business, and you’ll be inspired to hear how she navigated serious personal challenges to following her true path. She shares great wisdom about the importance of talking about mental health and also some of her personal tips for living a full and fullfilled life. You’ll be hearing clips from a few songs from the album Recuerdo, as well as Libérame from Libre featuring Kellylee Evans. You’ll also find Martinez’s music on several Putamayo world music compilation albums. Please check out the links to other episodes you'll like below. Transcript and video on my website
Buy me a coffee? Thanks! Podcast merch
Other episodes you'll like:
(00:00) Intro
(02:33) album Recuerdo, Amanda’s dad Gustavo
(10:55) the band
(12:36) clip of Sol de Ayer
(13:30) Afro-Cuban influence, long-time collaborators
(14:59) identity as a musician, mentors
(18:55) grief, song with Aviva Chernick
(21:22) clip of No te vayas
(22:42) performing in South Africa
(25:56) Amanda’s teen years
(28:17) Other episodes you’ll like and ways to support this series!
(29:11) love of dance
(31:21) writing lyrics in Spanish
(33:16) clip of Release Me
(34:00) mental health challenges and background in business
(46:01) Libérame with Kellylee Evans (link to video in show notes)
(49:40) Namibia SOS Children’s Villages
(53:38) Acting career, Rosie’s Rules, My Little Pony, Ari Posner, Carl the Collecctor
(59:33) typecasting, Kim’s Convenience, memorizing lines
(01:04:40) personal routines and mental health, family
Previous Episode
Heather Taves is an acclaimed Canadian pianist, also a composer, improviser, educator and writer.
She spoke to me about her unique and inspiring Beethoven Journey, her popular weekly blog which she started in 2023 , paired with performances of all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas. We talked about getting to know Beethoven as a person and her fascinating research about many women that are part of this history. We also talked about Heather’s work as an educator, developing creativity and approaching teaching music from different angles. She spoke about her mentors including pianist Gil Kalish and writer Diane Shoemperlen, and her experiences travelling around the world by herself.
You can also watch this on my YouTube channel, transcript and complete show notes with suggested episodes too on my website!
It’s a joy to bring these inspiring episodes to you every week, and I do all the many jobs of research, production and publicity. Buy me a coffee?
Waves Play from East Coast Suite
Arabesque in C major by R. Schumann
photo: Terry Manzo
(00:00) Intro
(02:25) Beethoven Journey, Nanette Streicher, sonata cycle
(08:32) Jan and Jean Narveson, Anton Kuerti, women interpreters research
(17:52) clip of R. Schumann Arabesque in C major (album linked in show notes)
(19:30) Heather’s childhood
(22:11) East Coast Suite, Toccata based on Fibonacci series
(23:14) Waves Play Toccata by Heather Taves from East Coast Suite
(25:49)Creative Projects, helping students to find their voice
(32:44) getting to know Beethoven the person
(38:39) performing from memory
(41:20) Gil Kalish
(45:48) other episodes you’ll like and ways to support this series
(46:42) Beethoven journey blog
(59:18) writing mentor Diane Schoemperlen
(01:043:23) Dame Myra Hess
(01:07:54) Heather’s life as a composer, her father
(01:11:35) world trip, questioning identity
(01:16:48) final reflections on the life of a performer
Next Episode
Joel Styzens is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose career as a drummer was transformed due to sudden hearing damage. He talked to me about dealing with the physical and psychological effets of hyper acusis and tinnitus, the beauty of hammered dulcimer, and you’ll hear clips from his first 2 albums Relax Your Ears and Resonance. He’s a music educator who loves to help students to make discoveries on their own and we spoke about Joel’s passion for all kinds of artistic expression, and his positive recent experience at the Ragdale Artist residency. Joel’s personal story is so inspiring, and his music is so beautiful; please check out his albums .
You can also watch this on YouTube and the Transcript is also linked to my website
Support this series! It’s a joy to bring these inspiring episodes to you every week, and I do all the many jobs of research, production and publicity. Would you like to know about upcoming guests? Newsletter sign-up
Other episodes you'll like: Jack Hui Litster Kirsten Agresta Copely Margaret Maria
Follow the podcast on social media
Photo of Joel: Sarah Boudreau
(00:00) Intro (02:49) Joel’s sudden hearing problems (09:47) meeting his wife through his music with clip of Viv (17:51) inspired from the Botanic Gardens in Chicago (20:28) video clip from Waterfall Garden featuring hammered dulcimer (20:32) clip from Burijji (24:51) David’s Dulcimers (28:52) dealing with tinnitus and hyperacusis (34:39) support from family, clips of Lifeline and Memento M (38:34) Other episodes you’ll like and ways to support this series (39:26) cellists Sophie Webber, Katinka Kleijn, ATLYS string quartet, Rob Clearfield (41:41) teaching multi-instrumentalist approach (53:32) Ragdale residency, exploring different forms of creative expression
If you like this episode you’ll love
Promoted