Dr. Mariachi
By: Naissa Lopez
While most children play hide-and-seek or tag growing up, Veronica Salinas was steadfastly building a passion for music. Now, not only does Dr. Veronica Salinas Lopez boast an impressive academic resume, she still holds onto the love of music that has guided her throughout her career.
“My passion for music began when I was a little girl, maybe around 5,” she said. “My family always sang and my dad played the saxophone. I was mesmerized by music. I went to The Nutcracker ballet when I was 11, and afterwards I drew an image of the ballet with all this scribbling at the top. As a child, those scribbles represented the music coming up from the orchestra pit and out to the audience. I still remember that day distinctly.”
Dr. Lopez began playing the violin in junior high school and her admiration for the instrument never dissipated.
“I played in the Corpus Christi Youth Orchestra and in chamber groups throughout junior high and into high school. Eventually, I started teaching violin lessons from home, taught junior high and high school, then started college teaching. I’ve been teaching youth orchestra as well for about 17 years.”
Lopez isn’t only familiar with the enchanting sounds of the violin, she’s also quite talented on another instrument as well, it’s cousin, the viola.
“In 2006 I became very interested in the sounds of the viola,” she said. “It has a different range of pitches and sounds lower and darker than the violin. After fooling around with it for about a year, I decided to study it seriously and went back to school to get my Doctorate in Viola Performance at Texas Tech University.”
Dr. Lopez has also been able to represent the state of Texas in a completely different part of the world. She and her brother, cellist Dr. Adolph Salinas, were invited to Italy in 2006 as the chamber group of residence of the Rome Festival Orchestra.
“It was a very special time,” she said when reminiscing her trip across the pond. “I was in awe of that beautiful city. It’s so rich in history and culture, and I began to feel very comfortable with the environment for the five weeks that I was there. The musicians are extraordinary, and there’s art on every corner. I was so artistically inspired when I came back to Texas.”
That inspiration has projected itself onto the lives of new musicians that she is currently mentoring at Texas A&M University—Kingsville.
“I think mariachi is such a beautiful style of music. It’s very passionate and has its own way of conveying emotion to the audience. I love that I have students who really care about mariachi, and who come to our group with a vast amount of expertise from all over South Texas. They always do their very best to communicate the message from the music.”
Lopez, who is also the first female Hispanic conductor in Texas, reiterates that if the wondrous world of music is your passion, don’t let anything deter you from it.
“Even though you may not be aware of it, you have a unique perspective on your interpretation of music. There is no one else in the world like you. Share that interpretation with us, and don’t keep that hidden. That’s the beauty of art and music; it can be whatever you want it to be.”
