Mayor Honors Aldine ISD Educator With Hispanic Heritage Award

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Mayor Annise Parker will honor José Antonio Díaz in October.  The MacArthur High School educator is one of the recipients of the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]2014 Hispanic Heritage Awards. Díaz will receive the award for Art in the Community.

Díaz has been molding musicians at MacArthur High since 1985. He also works with students in Latin jazz at the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Diaz Music Institute, a nonprofit he founded in 2000. His attention to excellence has garnered him recognition from well-known artists. One of those artists is percussionist Ndugu Chancier. The former member of Santana has worked with Díaz for more than 20 years.

Some of his students have won recognition. For example, three former students have won Grammy awards. And some of his former students have performed with many famous artists ranging from Harry Belafonte to Beyonce.

“We have been fortunate to work with many artists,” said Díaz. “The students have worked with Terence Blanchard, Branford Marsalis, Johnny Pacheco, and Celia Cruz.”

Other artists include Wynton Marsalis, Eddie Palmieri, Bobby Valentín, Ismael Miranda, Roberto Roena, Poncho Sánchez, Dave Valentin, Brian Lynch, Néstor Torres, Arturo Sandoval, Pete Escovedo, Alex Acuña, Danilo Pérez, and David Sánchez.

Díaz is a talented player and composer in his own right and is known for pushing his students to do well.

[quote]He pushes you and might give you a hard time but there is a reason,” said student Robert Chapa. “Most of the students that came out of the MacArthur program are up there or they know how to play extremely well. He just pushes you to that limit to go higher.”[/quote]

In his 29 years at the campus, his ensembles have gained national and international attention. Díaz and his students have performed many times at the Midwest Clinic and the International Association of Jazz Educators.

Caliente is the Diaz Music Institute’s repertory youth group. Díaz organized Caliente to introduce students to the full range of Latin music. They learn about the infused heritage of Latin jazz, with its elements of Cuban and West African rhythms. He stated that he also trains the students to play swing, hip-hop and pop.

“I train students in anything that involves commercial music because Latin jazz fuses them all,” Díaz said. “I want to make sure when kids leave the program they will find income.”

In the summer, Caliente played a concert at Miller Outdoor Theatre. They had the chance to play with 93-year-old Cuban percussion legend Cándido Camero.

This is not the first time that Díaz has received recognition. In 2008, he received the Jefferson Award presented by KPRC-Channel 2. The award recognizes individuals for their achievements and their contributions in the community. In 2011, the Houston Arts Alliance awarded Díaz with an Individual Artist Grant (IAG). The IAG Program supports the development and presentation of new artistic works by local Houston artists to help advance Houston’s reputation as a vibrant creative hub and a destination for cultural tourism.

More recently, DownBeat magazine named Díaz to its Jazz Education Hall of Fame in June 2014. Tom Smith a professor at Ningbo University in China shared his effusive praise of Díaz with Downbeat.

[quote]His reputation as a world-class educator is well known in the profession of jazz education,” said Smith. “Despite never having had the pleasure of his acquaintance, I would only hope my own goals in education remain as altruistic as his.”[/quote]

Each year, the Mayor’s Hispanic Heritage Awards (MHHA) Committee selects the recipients. The awards recognize exemplary Hispanics in the Houston area who are making a difference.

Mayor Parker will recognize Díaz and the other four recipients at the MHHA reception celebration set for October 7 at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston-Caroline Wiess Law Building.

Watch a video about the Díaz Music Institute.

[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep6O8cAQ8CM” width=”560″ height=”315″]

 

Watch a video of students and staff talking about Díaz as a mentor.

[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO2XSt20IOc” width=”560″ height=”315″]