{"id":4663,"date":"2016-01-06T20:09:32","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T20:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=4663"},"modified":"2016-01-06T20:09:32","modified_gmt":"2016-01-06T20:09:32","slug":"music-academy-continues-mission-while-anticipating-move-to-downtown-brownsville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=4663","title":{"rendered":"Music Academy Continues Mission While Anticipating Move to Downtown Brownsville"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Cheryl Taylor\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS<\/strong> \u2013 The Music Academy of the School of Music at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is partnering with the Brownsville Performing Arts Academy located in the historic Stegman Building, currently under renovation in downtown Brownsville.<\/p>\n

Renovation of the 103-year-old Stegman Building is a collaborative effort that includes the City of Brownsville, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the non-profit Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts and the UTRGV School of Music.<\/p>\n

\u201cPartnering with the Brownsville Performing Arts Academy is another avenue for UTRGV to be interwoven in the community, a way to improve and create opportunities for everyone who lives here, whether or not they attend the university,\u201d said Dr. Michael Quantz, interim associate dean for the College of Fine Arts.<\/p>\n

Three Music Academy students who currently take lessons in the Eidman Building on the UTRGV Brownsville Campus, and who will benefit from the new venue, are Rex N\u00e1jera and his sisters, Bethany and Katie.<\/p>\n

Bethany and Katie have taken lessons in violin and piano, respectively, at the Music Academy for several years, and little brother Rex started guitar lessons over the summer.<\/p>\n

A first-grade student at Brownsville\u2019s Breeden Elementary School, Rex chose the guitar after hearing AC\/DC\u2019s \u201cBack in Black\u201d on the radio while riding in the car with his father one day.<\/p>\n

\"Rex<\/a>

Rex N\u00e1jera, 6, plays a song during his lesson with David Solis at the UTRGV Music Academy, currently housed at the Eidman Building. Photo: David Pike\/UTRGV<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI want to learn how to make that music,\u201d he said, to his father\u2019s surprise.<\/p>\n

Sean Wang, a 17-year-old junior at Science Academy of South Texas in Mercedes, is another student at the Music Academy, where he is in his fourth year of study with Dr. Kenneth Saxon.<\/p>\n

Sean said he was an energetic child who showed an early interest in music, and when he was about 5 years old, his parents channeled that energy into an instrument.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was younger, I took lessons from Anne Stone in Harlingen,\u201d Sean said. \u201cI received a great piano foundation from Mrs. Stone. Now, over the past four years, Dr. Saxon has been working with me on my technique, progressing to more elaborate pieces. And we are working on my sight reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music Academy instructors include not only university professors, but also UTRGV music education majors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis provides them with an invaluable opportunity to gain experience in imparting knowledge to students,\u201d Quantz said. \u201cAside from being accomplished musicians, our education majors must develop their teaching skills. To learn effective communication is a good thing to practice, to provide that complex mix of elements to ensure learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rex\u2019s guitar instructor is David Solis, a senior music education student from Brownsville.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I am learning as much or more than Rex, because I\u2019m learning about patience and how to handle working one-on-one with a young student,\u201d Solis said. \u201cI\u2019ll be able to take my Music Academy experiences with me as I continue into the classroom after graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quantz points out the Stegman Building\u2019s ideal location at the corner of 11th and East Washington streets, placing it adjacent to one of Brownsville\u2019s older, economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, including Brownsville Housing Authority\u2019s Buena Vida Neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to bring the opportunities that Rex, Bethany, Katie and Sean have to more school-age children in Brownsville,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving the building within walking distance of where many children live helps them take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considered an integral part of downtown revitalization, the Stegman Building is scheduled for completion in early 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that far off, really,\u201d Quantz said. \u201cIn the meantime, the Music Academy will continue as usual with classes held here on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sean<\/a>

Sean Wang, a high school junior at the Science Academy in Mercedes, has worked on his piano skills with Dr. Kenneth Saxon, of the UTRGV Music Academy, for four years. Photo: David Pike\/UTRGV<\/p><\/div>\n

Music Academy Coordinator Nicolas Hurtado said enrollment this semester was especially good for piano classes, with 50 students taking group or private lessons. Other students are engaged in voice, guitar, strings and percussion lessons.<\/p>\n

Hurtado said the academy offers \u201cToddler Tunes,\u201d a class for newborns-to-toddlers, which the N\u00e1jera children attended with their mother, a good way to introduce children to music while stimulating their senses of hearing, seeing and touching.<\/p>\n

The initial launch of the Brownsville Performing Arts Academy is funded primarily through federal grants.<\/p>\n

\u201cHousing and Urban Development funds will provide administrative support for the UTRGV music students who teach music to Buena Vida neighborhood children,\u201d Quantz said. \u201cThere will still be a need for contributions and patronage from individuals, organizations and foundations. I am certain this will be a place of joy, where children will grow and flourish with creative energy and a love of the arts.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about the UTRGV Music Academy, contact Nicolas Hurtado at (956) 882-7703 or nicolas.hurtado@utrgv.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Cheryl Taylor\u00a0 BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS \u2013 The Music Academy of the School of Music at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is partnering with the Brownsville Performing Arts Academy located in the historic Stegman Building, currently under renovation in downtown Brownsville. Renovation of the 103-year-old Stegman Building is a collaborative effort that includes the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-valley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4663"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4666,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663\/revisions\/4666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}