SAN ANTONIO – Edison High School’s “Conjunto los Dorados” will take center stage at the Tejano Mundial Awards, showcasing their musical talents and cultural pride.
“You can feel the music in your heart and actually express yourself, I guess, in a way,” said Christopher Ramirez, a senior at Edison High School.
Christopher has been playing accordion since he was in third grade.
He said there is no better feeling than performing on stage.
He gets to do just that Thursday with “Conjunto los Dorados,” a group from SAISD’s Edison High School.
They are performing at the Tejano Mundial Awards from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. at the San Antonio Shrine Auditorium.
The group will play on the red carpet for the event, and again at the start of the show.
“It was a great accomplishment for us as a program to be able to go to this event where we have professional musicians from all over the state,” said Jose Villanueva, the conjunto teacher at Edison High School.
Villanueva has been playing conjunto music his whole life. He started the program two years ago made possible by the SAISD Foundation. He said it’s important to preserve South Texas heritage.
“It’s about them continuing their culture and keeping this music going,” Villanueva said. “I’m hoping that I can help create the next generation of musicians.”
Freshman Maria Jose Ramirez sings and plays the drums in the conjunto group and is proud to be part of it.
“I feel like playing on stage it gives you like a sense of pride of your culture, of your ethnicity, and like seeing other people recognize the songs that we’re playing and seeing, like, their joy and seeing them dancing for you and enjoying it,” Maria Jose said. “It makes me feel like proud of myself that I’m doing it and that I’m showing people my culture.”
Their skills and culture will be on display at the Tejano Mundial Awards, in front of professional artists who students said they look up to.
“It’s very exciting to maybe get to know other artists or like different according to this tour,” Maria Jose said. “And I was like, okay, okay, okay, maybe we could go and learn something new.”