Mexican American Studies professor talks music and empowerment

OCTOBER 8, 2024 — The UTSA Libraries’ fall edition of Pizza & Research will observe both Hispanic Heritage Month and National Coming Out Day with a unique blend of plática and song to showcase the transformative power of music in challenging patriarchy, sexism and colonialism. Featured presenter Rachel Yvonne Cruz, UTSA Mexican American Studies assistant professor and music specialist, will share her personal story as a Queer woman, Xicanx and Latine navigating the intersections of ethnicity, culture and sexuality.

Music is an integral part of Cruz’s life.

“I sang before I spoke,” she says. “Music has always been with me, like a conjoined twin.”

She notes that music is included at the beginning of every wonderful life event, from inaugurations and sporting events to graduations and weddings. This profound connection with music has been a driving force throughout her life and academic career.

Cruz will don her acoustic guitar, an essential part of every presentation she does. With it, she invites others to reflect on how music and the arts can empower marginalized communities.

“I sang before I spoke. Music has always been with me, like a conjoined twin.”

“The Pizza & Research event series is a cornerstone of our library's mission to foster a vibrant intellectual community on campus,” said Dean Hendrix, UTSA vice provost and university librarian. “By offering a platform for diverse voices like Dr. Cruz to share their unique research and creative scholarship, students, faculty and staff can engage in meaningful dialogue, bridging the gap between research and real-world application.”

Pizza & Research is free and open to UTSA students, faculty and staff. Pizza will be served while supplies last. The event will be held in the John Peace Library Assembly Room (JPL 4.04.22) from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, October 15.

Cruz has spent much of her life overcoming personal trauma and navigating the challenges of a music education and industry shaped predominantly by white, male perspectives.

She credits her position in the UTSA Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies (REGSS) program with giving her the unique opportunity to explore and discover in a self-reflective way both her musical and personal identity.

Without this program, “I might have remained focused solely on the technical and aesthetic aspects of music, limited by the conventional boundaries of performance and composition,” she said.

She continued, “REGSS transformed my understanding of music; it opened my eyes to how music is more than an art form. It is a living archive, a form of resistance and a way of expressing complex human experiences that reflect the interconnectedness of societal struggles, personal identity and collective memory, far beyond what I would have discovered never having stepped out of the study of music as only an artform and not a custodian of culture and heritage."

She holds a B.A. in Music from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in music and a doctoral degree in musical arts from the University of Texas at Austin. As a leading voice in Mexican American music scholarship, she has been instrumental in creating a unique concentration in Mexican American music for the university’s B.A. in Mexican American Studies. Introduced in Fall 2022, this concentration is paving the way for future activist scholars to use music as a tool for social change.

Cruz’s dedication to preserving and celebrating the contributions of Chicanas/xs, as well as femme and gender-nonconforming musicians, shines through her original compositions and transcriptions. She has created an archive that includes digitized recordings, transcriptions and notations, ensuring that these voices, too often left out of the mainstream narrative, are immortalized. Her style of presenting this creative scholarship, seamlessly weaving prose with song, elevates the stories of those frequently marginalized or forgotten.

A first-generation college graduate, Cruz is an award-winning author for her book, “The Art of Mariachi: A Curriculum Guide” (Conocimientos Press). As a passionate singer, songwriter, and scholar, Cruz’s work cultivates a deep appreciation for the diversity and complexity of Mexican American music, culture and heritage, establishing her as a pivotal figure in the field.

Whether you are a scholar, an artist or someone interested in the power of music to influence change, this discussion will explore how self-reflection and song can help navigate the complexities of identity and society.

Hendrix said, “Come join us for an afternoon of conversation, music and pizza. Let Dr. Cruz take you on a journey through the melodies and stories that have shaped her unique path in academia and life.”

— Germaine Age Williams