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- Milwaukee is a wonderful city.
And we're very fortunate to be here.
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Our group name is Renacer or "rebirth" in Spanish.
The music is very upbeat.
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It's all Latin music and it's all sung in Spanish.
[singing in Spanish]
I was born and raised in Milwaukee.
And I was born just a few blocks from this community center.
[Latin American-style guitar music]
I taught at the Milwaukee Public Schools,
in particular, Pulaski High School,
for 32 years and I loved my job.
I retired in 2004.
When I first retired,
I thought, well, my father was a musician.
I should, perhaps, play my father's guitars.
So I got a hold of Alberto Cardenas.
And he said he could give me music classes.
I had never played a musical instrument in my life.
So this was brand new for me.
[Latin American-style guitar music]
My father came to Milwaukee from Mexico in the early 1920s.
He was 14 years old, orphaned.
He was also a musician at a young age with his guitars.
He played with numerous groups in Milwaukee.
I have albums that belonged to my father and mother,
such as Trio Los Panchos or Eydie Gorme.
She was very popular in those days.
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This is the type of music
that our group Renacer is playing for concerts.
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It started with just Alberto and myself,
but now it's shared by many.
I would have never imagined that this would have started here,
but this was Alberto's idea.
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We're very fortunate
that we have a wonderful, Spanish-speaking director
who knows the music very well.
And it takes a lot of practice,
but he has a very special way of teaching the beginners.
When they play here at the senior center,
he sees the seniors.
And he sees that they're interested and
they love music.
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The building is physically located
in the Latin American Community
on the south side of Milwaukee.
Our singers and our guitarists are from
a variety of different Latin American countries.
[tamborine jingling]
So we sing music from Cuba and Puerto Rico and
Mexico and Guatemala and El Salvador.
Basically,
all of the Latin American countries.
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I play a guitar, a classical guitar.
I think what was so difficult for me
were all of these strums.
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But with practice...
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we learn.
[uptempo Latin American-style music]
I think it's very important that you know your roots,
where you came from.
That's for all ethnic groups,
whether you're German, Italian, Polish.
Whatever it might be.
I measure success by all of our smiles.
We know that they enjoy the music.
They have been handed down from generation to generation.
I feel lots of love and emotion.
And I think of my mother and father.
So it's all part of our family's history and
that's why I just love it.
[ending note of song fades out]