Greeley Central High School’s student body is about 71 percent Hispanic or Latino, and more than 40 percent of Greeley is. Javier Vinasco, who directs the University of Northern Colorado’s Latinx Music program, talked with Ian Walden, Greeley Central’s orchestra and Latinx music director, and the two started a club for students who wanted to play the music of Latin America. It began in October 2025, and a core group of roughly 13 students has kept coming.
The repertoire, as UNC’s Sept. 21 story describes it, runs through traditional music from Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, Cuba and Argentina, along with classical music composed in Latin America. Vinasco calls the arrangement a pipeline between high school and college, and the club performed at UNC’s Celebremos concert on Sept. 25 as the university’s Latinx Music program marks its third year with four free community concerts planned.
Why it matters
The best line in the story belongs to student leader Sahian Longoria, who told UNC that the music let her father hear his people’s stories finally being told, and that she is making him proud even though he is no longer here. The teachers say the goal is an environment where students feel seen, and a year of steady attendance suggests it is working.
How to hear them
UNC’s Latinx Music program lists its community concerts on the university’s events pages; the concerts are free. We will list the next one on Colorado Local when a date is posted.
More like this: Inspiring Stories · Find the Good · Greeley · Watoto Children’s Choir in Greeley, Oct. 18
