MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — For more than 20 years, the Latino Arts Strings Program has taught and inspired hundreds of students to pursue their passions and gain important life skills through music.
“I have seen through generations what it has done in their lives and now in their children's lives, or in their professional life,” said Dinorah Marquez, director of the Latino Arts Strings Program.
Creator and director Dinorah Marquez says the group was born from a very personal place.
“I was an immigrant child. I came to the United States, I came to Texas, and the activity of playing a musical instrument was a life-saving activity in so many ways,” said Marquez.
Marquez says she wanted to make sure that passion could exist without any barriers.
Watch: Latino Arts Strings Program inspires next generation of classical musicians
“We are going to provide these services that children would have to pay, or families have to pay a lot of money for, the tune of $2,000 to $4,000 a year, and we're going to scholarship students for this,” said Marquez.
For brothers Moises and David Mujica Sanchez, the program has been a blessing.
“Something I like the most is being together, working on mariachi, growing together, and having good times,” said Moises.
Lizbeth Vallejo says joining the strings program in second grade changed her life.
“I grew up really shy, so this was my voice when I couldn't speak,” said Vallejo.
She is now in her final year of graduate school for viola performance at UW-Milwaukee, thanks to the support she has received.
“I knew that music was the only thing that could really help me experience those things, and I couldn't let it go. I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” said Vallejo.
As Vallejo prepares to join the strings program as a full-time instructor, she hopes to instill that love in her future students.
“We want our students to be more than us, better than us, and if they could just even have some of the alegria that I feel when I play music, my mission is complete,” said Vallejo.
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