Valencia Elena Aguirre is a young musician with Via International’s Somos La Voz program, a recipient of the 2026 Healing Through Arts grant.
This grant seeks to promote mental, physical, social well-being utilizing non-clinical approaches and experiences in nature.
Valencia’s Story
“I’ve been playing with Somos La Voz for over two years. I sing and had played music before, but not connected to my culture.
I am a Chicana/Latina. When I was younger, I wasn’t around my culture a lot. I was around a lot of Spanish, but no one really showed me the culture. But as I grew up, I was introduced to more of my culture. I was part of an Aztec dance group, and that helped me experience more of my culture and my roots. And then my grandpa took me to one of my ancestor’s graves — he was Native American. And I learned that I have Native American roots.
Somos La Voz helped bring more of that music culture to me, and it has been a beautiful experience. I’ve been very happy with this.
My dad is an artist; he is a painter and muralist. He was connected to Via International and told me there was an opportunity to learn music that was part of my culture and that it would be a good experience. He encouraged me to try it, and I agreed.
The first day was really fun. We didn’t get right into the music because we first got to know each other and we made connections. We learned about the culture behind Son Jarocho, its origins in Veracruz, and how it ties Spanish and African roots.
I was able to learn a lot more about my culture and I was very happy to be able to do it.
I play the jarana, which is like the Mexican cousin of the ukulele, but with eight strings. It was difficult to tune at first, but then as I got used to it, I figured out how to tune it myself, and I can tune it by ear now. It’s one of the skills I learned in Somos La Voz. It was life-changing because now I can tell when someone is off tune, and I can help them out.
I also sing and I do zapateado, which is like tap dancing. You use your feet like a drum. And it’s just wonderful because I get to learn from other people who know how to zapatear.
Whenever I’m on stage singing, playing or dancing, I love to look at people’s faces because they’re just so happy, and it’s like we are connected in a way.
We recently performed at the Latino Film Festival, and a lady in the crowd was singing and dancing along. It made me very happy. It’s a beautiful experience to be on stage and see people’s faces light up when a song comes on and they know it — like la Bamba o el Colás. It’s a beautiful thing to experience and I’m blessed because I love to make people happy.
We are able to bring together the community to sing, dance, have fun, enjoy the music and the food.
When I represent my culture through music, I feel like I am making my ancestors proud. Even though my ancestors are no longer here, I feel like they’d be proud of me, proud that I’m learning and connecting to my culture. ”
This profile is a feature for People de San Diego, a storytelling project by the Prebys Foundation highlighting valuable community members of San Diego County.
