New nonprofit aims to promote Rio Grande Valley artists

McALLEN — Dr. Dahlia Guerra describes the large black Schimmel grand piano at her cousin’s home as the best.

“I appreciate them letting me just barge in whenever I want,” she said as she sat on the piano’s bench. “Basically, I like it when they go on vacation because I get to come practice.”

She breezed through some of her favorite classical compositions, Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” Manuel Ponce’s “Intermezzo,” and Frédéric Chopin’s “Fantaisie-Impromptu.”

Kathleen Lopez and her husband, Noel, who’ve filled every wall with artwork collected around the world, had their home designed to accentuate the sound from their prized concert grand piano. Pillars run through the center of the home holding up an archway that carries the sound from the piano throughout the living room area.

“It’s fabulous, because I can only play the radio,” Kathleen joked. “So I get to really enjoy it. It’s always nice to enjoy it.”

Guerra has been instrumental in cultivating the musical skills of not only her children and her nieces and nephews, but those of many talented musicians throughout the Rio Grande Valley.

She retired in August after nearly 40 years teaching music at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a career that included the establishment of the school’s mariachi program in 1989 when the school was known as University of Texas-Pan American. But it is nearly impossible for Guerra to step away.

“I think I’m working harder now than before I retired,” she joked.

With so much music left to share, Guerra has found a new avenue to help local artists share their talents with the founding of her new nonprofit, the South Texas Music and Cultural Arts Foundation.

“All of my life, really, I’ve worked to promote the arts and to just engage the community in the potential that the arts have in education and in well being, and to create a really thriving community,” Guerra said. “Most of my work has been based on the cultural arts, which is not only classical music, but also mariachi music.”

Dahlia Guerra, of the South Texas Music and Cultural Arts Foundation, poses on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in McAllen. (Joel Martinez | jmartinez@themonitor.com)

As ​​assistant vice president of Public Art and dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, Guerra devoted her career to spreading the joy of music through her masterful classical piano skills and her passion for Mexican folk music.

“My whole life has been really just immersed in the arts,” she said. “I’m a classical pianist, and I just know firsthand what the arts can do for a person, for a developing young mind.”

Guerra said that her passion for the arts came at a young age through her father and trips to Mexico, where she was first exposed to mariachi and Mexican folk music.

“My daddy decided I was going to be a pianist when I was born. The day I was born, he said, ‘She’s going to be a pianist,’” she recalled.

“I was born in Edinburg, but we traveled to Mexico a lot — all the time,” she said. “I love the music of Mexico, the folk music of Mexico. We used to hear mariachis everywhere we went. So along with classical music, this love of Mexican folk music was born.”

With so much of her life devoted to music and the arts, she felt that there was more work to be done after retirement.

“I’m still involved, and that’s what my foundation is doing now, really, continuing my work,” she said. “I’m promoting local musicians and consulting all the years that I’ve gathered ideas, information, expertise in the area. And I would love to raise scholarships as well. That’s part of the mission of my foundation, just to engage the community with the beauty of the arts.”

She said that her goal with her new foundation is to promote different events of all different mediums throughout the Valley.

She has hit the ground running with a slew of shows since September, including the “En Memoria” Dia de los Muertos concert featuring Aida Cuevas on Nov. 2.

Dahlia Guerra, of the South Texas Music and Cultural Arts Foundation, plays a piece of music on a grand piano Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in McAllen. (Joel Martinez | jmartinez@themonitor.com)

There are a few more shows scheduled before the end of the year, including a pair of shows called “Mariachi Christmas” on Dec. 3 in Edinburg and Dec. 19 in Roma.

Guerra said that she has no plans of stopping anytime soon, and is still a constant presence at UTRGV where she is continuing to work with the mariachi program that she built from the ground up.

“I thought it was something that I could continue to contribute to our community and just give it my own feel and my own personality,” she said. “I just wasn’t ready to stop. I want to continue to promote the arts, and then just enjoy the arts, because while I’m promoting them, I’m enjoying them. So it’s such a gift, such a blessing in my life.”

More information about the South Texas Music and Cultural Arts Foundation, as well as a schedule of upcoming events, can be found at the foundation’s website, www.southtexasmusic.org.

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