The
Guitar Group of EPCC recently hosted a going away party for Francisco
Espinoza, who was the director of the Guitar Group. Espinoza said
he made the decision to quit and leave the college because “the
small economic support that the school offered” was not sufficient
to support the program.
Espinoza began his career as a musician when he was twelve, working
with musical groups called “trios” (a group of three musicians)
and “cuartetos” (a group of four musicians) in Nayarit,
his native city.
Despite his hard childhood, which was surrounded by mistreatment and
repressions by his family, he insisted in taking this path and commented
that, more than art, he sees music as a form of expression. “Thanks
to the music I could surpass many emotional problems in my youth,
mainly alcoholism,” Espinoza said.
Francisco
Espinoza, (left) plays with other members of the Guitar Group. He
is leaving because he said the economic support provided the group
is insufficient.
At
the age 32, he joined the guitar group of EPCC where he began participating
in small events and serenading to the counselors from the college.
Then as the group progressed they began to appear in more prestigious
events such as: the “Plaza los Lagartos”, the inauguration
of the Health Building at EPCC, appearances on important TV channels,
and in the “Ateneo Fronterizo de Cd. Juarez A.C.”, among
others.
All the while, Espinoza, who was not only in charge of the guitar
group, was also busy composing songs that would later be interpreted
by the EPCC guitar group. Some of the songs that were interpreted
are, “Mi Divorcio,” “El Rayo del Amor,” “Adios
Amigo ESL” and “Pura Costumbre”.
After a lengthy career at the college, Espinoza decided to quit and
leave the charge to Cesar Rivera, who is also a philosophy teacher.
“I would like to think that my work for EPCC is not taken for
granted, rather I would like to hope that someone else will continue
to progress the program and help the students on the path their on,”
Espinoza added.
“I would like to emphasize the fact that hardly any support
was given to groups like us, because we lacked the necessary instruments
to develop such goals that I had in mind such as the participation
in the Thanksgiving Parade,” Espinoza said. He noted the need
“to have our own transportation in order to travel to the appearances
and adequate uniforms for the group to represent EPCC.” Espinoza
said that he will not abandon the group and will continue his support
for them from outside of the collage. Another goal Espinoza said hopes
the group can achieve is the formation of a nonprofit organization
that promotes better living through music.
Many people attended Espinoza’s farewell party at the Rio Grande
campus including several members of faculty and staff. Espinoza was
thankful for all the people who supported him throughout his career
at EPCC, especially Roberto Jaquez, his greatest supporter.
