Jaime's Story

Jaime Díaz, born in 1990, is a sound artist and academic who specializes in experimental sound. They are based in Moscow, Idaho. Over the past 10 years, Jaime has worked across theatre, dance, film, and the concert stage, and has gained experience in the US, Canada, UK, and Ghana. Jaime grew up near the Rocky Mountain foothills in Greeley, CO. While growing up they enjoyed great mountain views, biking the Cache la Poudre River trail, and driving into Tornadoes. In particular, Jaime enjoyed the walks and views at Pawnee National Grassland where bald eagles regularly nest. The Colorado plains belong to the Oglala Lakota Oyate, Núuchi-u, Apsáalooke, and Hinanaeina nations and to date, the state and federal government have yet to enact reparations or stop the continued colonial violence on these nations. This includes federally unfunded water projects and stolen mineral and oil rights amongst other economic and cultural injustices.

​​

From a young age, Jaime showed a talent for playing the piano and participated in public school programs and musical groups. They developed their skills further and became proficient enough to accompany high school choirs and soloists. In 2013, Jaime completed an undergraduate degree in piano from DePauw University under the guidance of Dr May Phang. Afterward, they ventured into freelance sound design/engineering work in theatre and dance.

From 2010-2013, Jaime served as the pianist and music director for the Camp Tamakwa theatre program. While living in Brooklyn, they worked as the Resident Sound Designer for Wide Eyed Theatre – NYC and collaborated with other organizations such as RadioTheatre, the Stella Adler Studio, and Poetic Theatre Productions. In 2015, Jaime worked as the assistant sound designer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for Lynn Nottage's play ‘SWEAT,’ which later achieved success on Broadway and earned Nottage the 2017 Pulitzer Prize.
 

In 2017, Jaime had the opportunity to be the Artist in Residence at the Accra Theatre Workshop. They composed electronic and acoustic music for the dance show ’MESSIAH,’ which has been performed in subsequent years. Additionally, Jaime conducted the Afro-Maestros Orchestra for the show's premiere.
 

Jaime has achieved notable accomplishments in the realm of concert music, including composing solo, chamber, and orchestral works, often receiving commissions from soloists and organizations. Their piano duet titled ‘an incomplete autobiography’ was the runner-up in the 2018 Anderson & Roe New Music New Video composition competition. Some of Jaime's commissioned works include "Señora de las Sombras" premiered at soundfest 2022, ‘Pink Cloud Ballade’ premiered by the Sheffield Clarinet Choir in 2023, and ‘Three distant moods,’ commissioned and recorded by Devan Jaquez in 2020. They were also commissioned by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s 2023 PLUG Festival to compose ‘statues of bone flowers,’ premiered by the GAIA duo, and ‘voiceless and brown’ premiered with Stephanie Lamprea and Calum Huggan. Jaime has also composed orchestral pieces including ‘Sirens 'Round Midnight’ and ‘ballade for the end of the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.’
 

Jaime has presented their research at ICMC 2019, Shared Narratives 2021/2024, Sonic Rebellions 2022/2024, the F-List in Music Research Conference 2024, and the LGBTA+ Music Symposium in Vienna 2022. They have peer-reviewed for both books and articles. In 2022, Jaime gave a guest lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Music Psychology short-course. Further experience was gained while guest lecturing for the music composition department in 2023-2024. Jaime was also a sound design lecturer at Purdue University from 2013-2014 where they taught undergraduate courses on recording studios and theatre sound design techniques.
 

Regarding their education, Jaime holds an MFA in music composition from the Vermont College of Fine Arts (2017) and an MA with distinction in music composition from The University of Sheffield (2018). Currently, Jaime is a doctoral candidate at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, focusing on the impact of white affectivity on the practices of brown composers. Their primary supervisor is Dr Doolittle with Dr Bhachu, Dr Hopfinger and Dr Knotts co-supervising. Jaime has studied with notable composers including Veronica Pejril, Scott Perkins, Johnathon Bailey Holland, John Mallia, Michael Early, Roger Zahab, Adam Stanović, and Dorothy Ker.