Yahir Montes
"From my experience, is such an important thing to bring music to children. Music will take them to places and give experiences that they never even thought about or have imagined before, it will also literally save them from being exposed to harder ways of life, paths and decisions, that is how music has impacted me. Music will make you a sensitive person, will make you connect and collaborate with other human beings, developing social skills since an early age. Music will make your life happier and better in so many ways. It is a gift that we all deserve."
Yahir Montes is a Mexican musician originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco. From an early age Yahir showed an interest in music. At the age of fourteen he formalized his studies in this art by entering the Instituto Universitario de Bellas Artes in the state of Colima, where he studied during high school in an arts major and completed a Bachelor of Music with honorable mention, being recognized through the “José Rolón” award as the best student of his generation. In January 2021, he graduated with a Masters in Composition and Arrangement from Universidad Tito Puente in Puebla, Mexico.
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Most recently, Yahir was awarded the PECDA Grant where he was commissioned to produce original classical compositions inspired by the history and culture of Colima, Mexico. He also has been touring all over the United States with the Venezuelan artist Miguel Anggelo with the project "LatinXOXO", and performed at important venues like Lincoln Center, Times Square, Joe's Pub and Mass MOCA for "Frida, The Musical", "Broadway in Spanglish", as guest of Linda Briceño, first Grammy Awarded Women Producer and many other projects. Yahir also is part of "Calpulli", a Mexican dance company from New York who brings the Mexican folclor to the stage.
Yahir studied under the famous Italian guitarist and composer Simone Iannarelli. In 2014, he won the award for "Mejor Interprete Local" at the international festival "Guitarromanía" organized in the city of Colima. He has taken advanced guitar training courses with internationally renowned musicians such as: Alfonso Aguirre, Marco de Santi, Alberto Vingiano, Carlos Larrauri, Dúo Kupinski, Giuliano Bellotti, among others. In 2019, he went on two international tours of Costa Rica and Guatemala with his project "Nostalgias Dúo" of which he is a part along with pianist Tomás Olivares Rojo.
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Apart from his work as a guitarist, he works consistently as an arranger. A few stand out to mention: “Boleros, Una Noche Para Recordar” in 2016 for the tenor Felipe Castellanos Mendoza; “Los Tres Tenores Colimenses” in 2018. In addition to his tasks as an arranger, he also developed as a composer; In 2019 he participated in the Laboratorio Sonoro organized by the Universidad de Guanajuato under the tutelage of renowned composers such as Víctor Ibarra, Ricardo Zohn, David Hernández and Jorge Torres. In January 2020, he premiered an hour of unpublished original classical music for different ensembles and instrumental configurations at the Pinacoteca Universitaria del Estado de Colima within the framework of the 1st Jornada de la Musica, an event created and organized by himself with his alma mater; el Instituto Universitario de Bellas Artes.
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At the end of 2020 he worked as a composer for the movie "New York Christmas Wedding", released on Netflix during the same year. He arranged and produced two songs for the film. He also released his first EP called "Vivencias" and it's producing two albums, the first one with the duo "Two In Love" where his wife is part of too and the second one "De donde vengo", a mariachi album with arrangements of famous oldies American songs.