As co-founder and now member
of COSA’s Education Committee, I am delighted and honored to participate in
this new venture. For those of you who do not yet know me, let me share with
you a few facts about myself.
I am a pianist of Mexican and
Italian descent who now thinks of San Antonio as her home. I was introduced to
the world of music when I was five years old, when my mother enrolled my sister
and me for piano lessons at our local music school in Mexico. I am very
fortunate to have been immersed in the classical music field since then, with
the help of my teachers and parents, and through numerous competitions and
performances that enriched my musical knowledge to become the musician that I
am today.
While I was studying for my
doctorate, I became inspired by the music of Spanish composers of the late 19th
and early 20th century. I discovered a lot of musical traits that
are a product of that culture’s inherent human characteristics, such as their
passion and zest for life that still includes a very tragic and melancholic
side, which I believe adds a profound significance to their existence. I felt
drawn to not only the music but to the art based on Spanish themes as well. I
am fond of the American painter John Singer Sargent, and I own a three-quarter
size replica of his magnificent work, El Jaleo, which exhibits a brilliant
representation of that wonderful song and dance form of Spanish music we
commonly recognize as Flamenco.
A great part of my musical
upbringing took place in this great city. San Antonio created a window of
opportunities, and a number of wonderful people sponsored my piano education
with the late Robert Avalon. It is hard to believe that some of the wonderful
friendships and relationships that I maintain today are a product of those
formative years. (Thank you all for those generous contributions and your
intention to help develop the talent of two young Mexican girls.)