· Agua Prieta, Sonora
Breathing The sound inside the wood
Lilian Calleja Ansástiga says, “If I could inhale music, I would.” That emotion captures both her interest and the physical intimacy she feels with sound. She doesn’t describe music as something she learned so much as something she absorbed. Long before she had the vocabulary for harmony or form, she remembers lying against a guitar, listening to the way the strings’ sound resonated through the fragrant wood.
Born in Mexico City in 1992 and raised in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Calleja grew up in a family where music was constant. Her parents played guitar and mandolin; relatives sang and carried songs across many generations. There was music at home, at gatherings, and during long hours of dancing and conversation. That environment led her to the guitar, the instrument she calls her “instrumento madre,” chosen as much for its presence in her home as for how it connected with her.
Her earliest training came from her father and from performing in a family church choir, where each member had a role. By her early teens, she was already directing. But even as she learned to play, she felt something was missing. No one around her could fully explain why music worked the way it did. “Nobody could explain it to me,” she recalls, describing the questions that followed her through childhood.
That gap became her motivation. Calleja decided to become a teacher. She wanted to be someone who could offer the insight she had been searching for. She studied music at the Universidad de Sonora, where she specialized in classical guitar, and discovered musical analysis: the process of breaking music apart to understand the structure. It was a turning point. For the first time, she could connect intuition with explanation.
In school, she discovered the Baroque period and composers like Johann Sebastian Bach, whose work she sees as central to modern musical thinking. What fascinates her most is the sense of freedom within structure, the idea that even within strict systems, musicians have always found ways to experiment and create.
Like many working musicians, Calleja’s career has developed across multiple roles. She performs in both classical and popular settings, teaches students at different levels, and works in recording and production. This range is less a choice than a necessity. Sustaining a life in music, she explains, often means “doing a little of everything.”
Teaching, however, remains central. Influenced by mentors who emphasized patience and attention, she focuses on helping students. She especially enjoys working with the students who are often overlooked. She recalls helping a pupil who struggled to speak begin to sing with confidence, a transformation she sees as proof of music’s greater impact.
Calleja is also candid about the challenges of being a woman in music. As the first woman in her program at the University of Sonora to graduate in classical guitar, much of the time was spent in spaces dominated by men. That experience formed her perspective on access and representation. It strengthened her belief that talent alone doesn’t determine opportunity.
One of the defining moments of her career came during the pandemic, when she worked on a recording project with Cuban guitarist Joaquín Clerch. As a recording engineer, she followed scores in real time and identified errors during sessions. It was a demanding role that confirmed her musical and technical skills. The experience marked, in her words, “a before and after” in her career.
Calleja continues to juggle performance, teaching, and production while returning to classical guitar with fresh focus. The work is demanding, but it reconnects her to the questions that first drew her to music. For her, the goal has never been just to play; it’s to understand, and to help others understand.