“I can count kind of on one hand the Latino violinists I know,”
“You know, being raised as a Chicano we were taught to be strong and be determined and not to wait for things to happen. So I’ve always tried to push forward and make things happen," said Eric Trujillo.“Part of my family is, a majority is indigenous and from Mexico, Native American and my Trujillo surname, of course, is the Spanish conquistadors,” he said.
“I know a few across the country, more now than when people first started asking me. I know about Manuel Delgado in Tennessee and his family in Los Angeles and Ralph Alcala and Manny Alverez in New York,” said Trujillo. According to a study by the League of American Orchestras, Hispanic and Latino musicians make up only 2.5% of musicians. Black musicians make up just under 2 percent . White musicians make up nearly 87% and Asian and Pacific Islanders represent just over 9%.She says it can be isolating being a Latina musician.
“In my time in the Colorado Symphony there have been four people, four Black gentlemen, including myself that have been a part of the orchestra and I’m the last one standing at this point,” said Basil Vendryes, a music professor at the University of Denver and the principal violist with the Colorado Symphony.“There are not as many people of color, or students of color at the Lamont School as we would like. There are more than there have been,” said Vendryes.