Senior Alexandro Aguilar came to University of Idaho in 2021 to study chemical engineering, but his enduring love of music, especially the Mexican folk music he grew up listening to in Payette, altered his course after only two weeks on campus.
Ironically, thanks in part to a scholarship from an engineer who graduated from U of I in the 1940s, Aguilar is now on a musical career path he wasn’t sure he could find.
Despite playing piano since age eight and participating in his high school drum line for four years, Aguilar hesitated to study music in college because he wasn’t sure that degree would lead to a successful future. But after hearing his freshman roommate talk about what he was doing in his music classes, Aguilar felt conflicted.
He asked a faculty member if changing his major so soon was a good idea. The instructor told Aguilar she got an undergraduate degree in engineering and later returned to earn a graduate degree in theatre arts, which was her true passion.
“She told me she wished she had followed her heart and studied theatre from the start,” said Aguilar, a first-generation college student. “That was the sign I was looking for.”
After signing up for music classes, Aguilar began thinking about what direction he should go with his studies. He kept coming back to a comment made by one of his professors.
“The quote is ‘strive to be known as the only one who does what you do’ — I’m not sure where I stole it from,” said Dan Bukvich, university distinguished professor at the Lionel Hampton School of Music (LHSOM). “I also do my best to remind students that they are here to major in themselves.”
Aguilar, whose parents were born in Mexico, grew up in a primarily Spanish-speaking house. Curious to learn more about the composition of the music he grew up listening to, he spent two weeks in Mexico City in 2024 researching the work of Manuel Ponce, an influential Mexican folk music performer.
“To understand a musical piece, a performer must research the conditions under which it was created – musical, cultural and political,” said Roger McVey, professor of piano at LHSOM. “This process of study, thought and consideration is necessary to bring artwork to life – that’s what musicians do.”
The trip was funded by the Bert Berlin Scholarship Enhancement Humanities Award through the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences.
Berlin ’47, a mechanical engineer, established the scholarship endowment fund for undergraduate humanities students to support activities that enhance their personal development and educational growth.
“Research in music is a lot different than research in engineering,” Aguilar said. “When I started listening to different styles of music, I heard a piece by Ponce and got very emotional because it sounded like Mexico to me. But I didn’t know much about Mexico. I wanted to learn more about why those sounds meant something to me.”
Connecting to culture through music
Growing up in a Spanish-speaking household, Alexandro Aguilar was immersed in the rich sounds of his heritage. But because he was raised in Payette, he didn’t have any context as to why those sounds meant something to him. The Lionel Hampton School of Music senior spent two weeks in Mexico City in 2024, studying music composition and theory of Manuel Ponce, a pivotal figure in Mexican folk music. In addition to deepening the understanding and appreciation of his cultural roots, he also discovered a growing interest in becoming a music teacher.
Born in Mexico, Ponce played piano and guitar and studied classical music composition in Europe in the early 1900s before returning to Mexico to teach.
“I think there’s some things Ponce wrote in his music, a specific kind of technical focus, that you don’t find with most European composers,” Aguilar said. “The rhythmic aspect, the horns and mariachis … his music is very unique because it combines his classical training and his Mexican background.”
Aguilar also spent time with his parents in Mexico City. As they described the sights, sounds and history of the area they grew up in, Aguilar began to understand the cultural nuances of the music he was studying.
To understand a musical piece, a performer must research the conditions under which it was created — musical, cultural and political. This process of study, thought and consideration is necessary to bring artwork to life — that’s what musicians do.
Roger McVey
professor of piano
“I was born in the U.S. and even though I speak Spanish, I always felt like I wasn’t fully connected to my culture,” he said. “Being able to finally make that connection through my music has helped me bridge that gap and has made this research very special to me.”
Aguilar’s research in Mexico City, combined with his love of playing music and his familiarity with the classroom from serving as a teaching assistant for Bukvich, helped him realize he’d eventually like to become a music teacher.
“Alex is a dedicated, inquisitive student and a natural leader,” McVey said. “He is a bright light who enriches the people around him.”