ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Kainoa is a reggae, reggaeton, and rock artist originally from El Paso, Texas. A solo artist, producer, and performer, he’s the founder and lead vocalist of Kainoa Music, a group known for its energetic mix of brass and rhythm, and a shared love for music that connects. Throughout his career, he’s collaborated with wellknown artists in the reggae scene including Pepper, Katchafire, Fortunate Youth, Drifting Roots, and Kyle Smith. Whether performing onstage or recording in the studio, his focus remains on creating something genuine with people who believe in the music as much as he does.
Since graduating from UTSA in 2022 with a major in Music Marketing and a minor in Music Technology, Kainoa has stayed busy.
This summer, most of his time has been spent either preparing for live shows or recording in the studio. His debut album is scheduled to release October 1, and he recently performed at Sam’s Burger Joint, a milestone show that marked a huge step forward for him and his band. They’re already booked to return this September.
After years of working from shared spaces, the band was finally able to afford their own rehearsal and studio space. That shift, he says, changed everything. The environment has helped streamline their process, sharpen their sound, and bring a more professional quality to every track they produce.
Looking back, Kainoa says UTSA’s School of Music gave him the foundation that still guides him today. What started with small things, like daily practice habits or correcting hand position on guitar, grew into something much bigger. Those lessons helped him not just as a performer, but as someone learning how to lead, build a team, and stay grounded through the highs and lows of working in the music industry.
One of his most vivid memories from college came when Dr. Muhn invited him to perform an original song for a college-level choir class. He remembers being nervous to the point of shaking, but something shifted once he played.
“I felt like they really saw me,” he says. “Like I earned their respect. That moment gave me a kind of confidence I hadn’t felt before, and I still carry it with me.”
When it comes to learning outside of performance, Kainoa points to the technical and professional tools he picked up at UTSA that he still uses now. One of those was learning how to build and use an EPK, or electronic press kit.
“That’s been huge,” he says. “It’s how I reach out to promoters, venues, tour managers. It’s how I present myself. I didn’t realize how important that would be.”
He also credits Dr. Renard with teaching him one of the most important lessons of his college experience. During the pandemic, Kainoa had no background in coding but still showed up to every virtual office hour. What stood out to him was how patient and persistent the professor was.
“He never gave me the answer,” Kainoa says. “He just helped me figure it out. That taught me to be okay with not knowing, and to be brave enough to keep asking questions.”
To current students, his advice is simple. Stay true to who you are. Rejection will come, and not everyone will believe in what you do.
“I’ve been ignored by promoters, passed over for gigs, and watched cliques form around me. But I kept going. You have to build that thick skin. Once you do, you don’t just grow as a musician. You grow into someone stronger. Someone you can be proud of.”
- Suzanna Bridges-Keese
MARIACHI All State Summer Clinic
The School of Music’s inaugural Mariachi Camp was a highlight of the summer, bringing together high school musicians for a week of music-making, collaboration, and connection.
“The mariachi camp went great,” said Michael Acevedo, Mariachi Director. “Lots of connections and awesome music.” The atmosphere was both focused and fun, with students bonding over a shared love for the mariachi tradition while working hard to prepare for their final performance.
This year’s group was made up entirely of high school students, ranging in ability from newer players to seasoned performers. While most weren’t beginners, Acevedo explained that their skills and experience varied enough to require a thoughtful approach to teaching.
“The camp was structured to meet all levels effectively,” he said. “I had student pull-outs to target smaller things, so everyone got the specific attention they needed.”
The week ended with a lively recital that showcased the work students had put in. They performed mariachi classics alongside All-State music excerpts, giving the audience a taste of both traditional repertoire and more technical audition material.
“They really appreciated that it combined All-State prep with recital music,” Acevedo said. “It gave their kids fundamentals they’ll use forever and a chance to play music together.”
For Acevedo, one of the best parts of the camp was the personal connections formed between faculty and students. “One favorite part was how the teachers got to know the students personally, then everyone met in a big group,” he said. “Watching new friendships form and seeing them come together for the recital were definite highlights.”
The teaching team, which included six instructors, also joined the students in performance, creating a collaborative environment that blurred the lines between teacher and performer. The camp ran smoothly this year, thanks in part to lessons learned from last summer.
“No major challenges this time,” Acevedo said. “Last year taught me a lot, so I set up the camp to keep everyone engaged and moving smoothly.” That preparation paid off, as the energy stayed high throughout the week. Looking ahead, Acevedo plans to continue the program every summer and is considering ways to expand it.
“I might try to include middle schoolers next year,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for younger students to get an early start and build confidence before high school.”
With its mix of focused skill-building, personal connection, and cultural celebration, the mariachi camp has quickly become a fixture of the summer music offerings, and one Acevedo hopes to grow in the years to come.
- Suzanna Bridges-Keese
At UTSA’s School of Music, the faculty are composed of a variety of incredibly talented musicians and composers, including the virtuoso Dr. Nicole Cherry, who serves as the Assistant Professor of Violin. Not only does she share her talents here at the university, but she is also the second violinist of the Marian Anderson String Quartet. Cherry has also performed internationally, including a tour as a featured soloist in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and South Africa. During this tour, she had the honor of performing before Queen Noor of Jordan. Dr. Cherry reflects now on her time at UTSA and what it means to her to be a faculty member.
Photograph by Rolando Ramon Presenter: ROCO (Houston, TX) Venue: The DeLuxe Theater (Houston. TX)
“When I was invited to an interview at UTSA, I sensed this could be a place where my deepest artistic and teaching commitments would take root,” Cherry states. “The role wasn’t inevitable; it came after a rigorous tenure-track search, and I am honored to be offered the position. I remain deeply grateful to be part of a faculty that values both excellence and exploration.”
For the professor, she was drawn to the warmth and ambition of the music community here at UTSA, including the colleagues she would gain, including emeritus professor Dr. Gene Dowdy, who had already laid a student-centered, collaborative foundation in the string area of the program. She reflects on her entrance into the program and goes on to note her day-to-day lifestyle as an instructor.
“I didn’t arrive to reinvent anything; I came to join a dialogue already in motion and to dream alongside it,” Cherry powerfully notes. “Day to day, I teach applied violin, lead chamber music ensembles, and mentor students who are finding their voices in a complex world. I also develop performance projects that stretch beyond traditional concert formats connecting music to history, identity, and service. UTSA has offered a rare platform where I can be responsive to the world around me artistically and educationally.”
Dr. Cherry has also launched ForgewithGeorge, a performance and research initiative that reimagines the legacy of Afro-European violinist George Bridgetower, whose story has been left unknown for centuries. What began as a personal question has evolved into a project spread across continents and classrooms. She consistently reflects on how Bridgetower’s story continues to shape her work as both artist and educator.
“ForgewithGeorge emerged gradually; it began with a question I couldn’t shake while working on my doctoral research: How is it that
George Bridgetower, a brilliant violinist and composer, once so close to Beethoven himself, had been so thoroughly erased from the classical canon?” Dr. Cherry reflects. “Bridgetower was Afro-European, born in the late 1700s, and not only had he performed with Beethoven, but he was the original dedicatee of what we now know as the Kreutzer Sonata, arguably one of Beethoven’s most demanding works for the violin. That fact alone should have secured his place in history, but it didn’t.”
With Dr. Cherry’s background growing up in the D.C. area, she can understand the power of music to carry history, having been born into a household where history was lived, not just learned.
“My understanding of history was also shaped by the AME church with understandings of music as memory and reclamation, and I was also a devoted student of the D.C. Youth Orchestra,” she states. “Public concerts also taught me early on that music isn’t just about technique, it’s about testimony. So, I didn’t want to simply study Bridgetower. I wanted to respond to him.”
When creating ForgewithGeorge, Dr. Cherry had early goals in mind for the ongoing project. One of those ideas was to take it to Trinity Hall at Cambridge University, where Bridgetower himself had earned his degree in music; so, with the support of musicians and lovers of music in both America and Europe, she was fully able to realize her dream.
“The highlight of that residency performing before the faculty and community in Cambridge University’s Master’s Lodge, followed by a formal meal at High Table, a surreal return to a place that had once overlooked Bridgetower, now welcoming a performance in his name,” she states. “This visit resulted in a few performances in England…since then, the project has traveled to places such as Australia, Canada, Boston… The journey continues.”
When asked about her approach with pairing newly commissioned works with historical music, she explains what she is drawn to and collaborators who are grounded in history but not confined by it.
“I’m drawn to composers who treat music as a form of deep listening across time, cultures, and silences — those who compose with risk and heart,” Dr. Cherry fondly responds. “I’ve worked with MacArthur Fellows and Grammy-winning artists, but I don’t program based on accolades. I program based on resonance. These are voices that Bridgetower’s story can elevate and that can elevate him in return.”
Dr. Cherry then goes on to share the process of how commissions are paired with a work from Bridgetower’s time, and the dialogues that are shared between eras.
“Each commission is paired with a work, typically a composer he [Bridgetower] performed with or alongside, such as Beethoven, Haydn, and a student of Beethoven’s, Ferdinand Ries,” Cherry explains. “The results are genre-fluid: gospel, classical, folk, hip hop, electronic, free improvisation. It reflects the pluralism Bridgetower embodied and the world I want my students to inherit.”
- Suzanna Bridges-Keese
UT San Antonio Welcomes New Director of Orchestras
Asieh Mahyar is the Director of Orchestral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting. Previously, she served as Director of Orchestral Studies at Pacific Lutheran University in Washington, Assistant Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra, Opera, and Musique 21 ensembles at Michigan State University, Assistant Conductor of the Orchestras at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Assistant Conductor at the Tchaikovsky Music College of Yerevan, Armenia.
Beyond academia, Mahyar served as Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra at the West Seattle Community Orchestras (WSCO) and has guest conducted orchestras across the country, including the Grand Rapids Symphony (MI), Northwest Mahler Festival Orchestra (WA), and Mansfield Symphony Orchestra (OH). Active as a clinician and adjudicator, she has collaborated with youth and high school orchestras, festivals, and conferences throughout the United States, including the 2024 Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA) Conference, the Mount Pilchuck Music Educators Association (WA), the Chinook Music Educators Association (WA), and the Valley Music Education Association (WA).
A Doctor of Musical Arts candidate (ABD) in Orchestral Conducting at Michigan State University, Mahyar holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Bachelor of Music with Honors in Choral Conducting from the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan, Armenia. Her professional training includes serving as Associate Conductor at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Conducting Fellow and Apprentice at the National Music Festival, and Conducting Scholar at the Eastern Music Festival, among others.
