Hi, I’m Esperanza Salgado

Hi, I’m Esperanza Salgado—a flutist, composer, and educator passionate about reimagining how we connect with music. My journey with music has been anything but linear, and that’s what makes it meaningful. I believe music is more than just performance or technique—it’s a way of understanding ourselves and others. My mission is to create spaces where musicians can grow with confidence, compassion, and joy.

This is what I do all day

I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Illinois Chicago and I am completing my Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Music Studies at Berklee College of Music (focusing on film scoring and music business). While I’m proud of my academic achievements, the truth is that my real education has come from grit—navigating the music world as a First Generation, Disabled Chicana. Music didn't come easy to me but I managed to make it happen.

As a performer, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with musicians across genres and performing throughout the Chicago area, from intimate chamber settings to larger ensemble works. I lead Éxtasis, a performance collective dedicated to original instrumental compositions and storytelling through music. As a composer, I blend my Latin American roots with classical training, film scoring, and contemporary styles to create works that tell stories and spark emotion. Finally, as an educator, my approach to teaching and mentorship is grounded in a holistic approach while keeping it real. I know firsthand the weight of performance anxiety and self-doubt; I want musicians, students, and educators to feel accomplished and confident in their artistry, no matter where they come from or how unconventional their journey might be.

As the education landscape begins embracing cultural competencies and decolonial approaches to music, I can’t help but wonder: what about the musicians left broken by traumatic interactions with music? 

The Anxious Musician was born out of disillusionment. Through a lot of soul searching, I realize that my experience in academia is not a coincidence.

The Anxious Musician was born out of disillusionment with an industry that often upholds harm under the guise of tradition. In 2017, during what should have been my final undergraduate semester, I experienced firsthand the violence of institutional academia—spaces where marginalized musicians, particularly women of color, are expected to tolerate disrespect, exclusion, and retaliation for speaking out. I withdrew from my classes that semester not out of failure, but out of resistance. I walked away with no roadmap, only the clarity that something had to change.

In the years that followed, I pursued answers beyond music—immersing myself in visual arts, social work, community organizing, and entrepreneurship. I earned certifications in body politics and human rights, experiences that reframed my understanding of harm as systemic, not isolated instances. These explorations gave me both language and tools. I began to see that the erasure of marginalized voices in music is not an anomaly—it is a pattern, one reinforced by policy, pedagogy, and practice.

What started as a simple way to manage my work as a private flute instructor and gigging musician evolved into something much bigger: a platform to challenge exclusionary systems, offer trauma-informed support, and build community among artists. My aha moment came through countless conversations with Black and Brown educators, students, and freelancers—conversations that often circled back to survival, exhaustion, and isolation. We laughed to cope, but the pain was always present. I realized we need more than survival strategies. We need spaces where we are safe to be, to learn, and to create without compromise.

Today, I'm building The Anxious Musician as a media company and resource committed to building those spaces. It’s a love letter to the musicians who have been cast out, erased, or told they must conform to belong. I bring to this work over a decade of experience in music, business, and community-building, with a deep commitment to care, equity, and sustainability. Whether I’m teaching, composing, or writing, my goal is to make music joyful, empowering, and real.