As we continue to work together to limit the spread of COVID-19 by practicing social distancing and avoiding public events, LCA will continue to cultivate a cultural and fine arts climate through our Art & Performance Summer Series.
We have created a platform to promote the arts and empower artists by showcasing free virtual artist performances and artistic demonstrations by musicians, dancers, poets, and artists.
Let’s celebrate artists who continue to inspire, elevate, and enlighten us during these difficult times.
This week’s installment in our Art & Performance Summer Series will be a Musical Performance by Cristina Reyes Hoffman & William J. Hoffman.
A native Laredoan, Cristina Reyes Hoffman is a violinist and music educator that has several years of experience in various genres of music. Her musical training began at an early age through the Laredo ISD Suzuki program initiative and is a proud graduate of Nixon High School and the Vidal M. Trevino School of Communication and Fine Arts. Throughout her youth, Cristina performed with the Laredo Youth Orchestra, Laredo Philharmonic, Laredo Chorale (musician), Texas A&M International University musical ensembles, and various Laredo professional mariachis.
After college, Cristina relocated to the Houston area, where she worked as a head orchestra director, clinician for various classical/mariachi summer camps, a violinist with Houston’s premier mariachi, Mariachi Imperial de America, and taught string lessons within her music studio.
Recently, Cristina and her family moved to Laredo, where she is the orchestra director at Lamar Middle School.
Originally from Mission Texas, William J. Hoffman is a music educator and professional trumpet player. In his youth, William was an active participant in his junior/high school band and mariachi programs. He is a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin Music Department, where he participated in the Longhorn Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Mariachi Paredes, and gigged professionally around the Austin area.
Post-graduation, William started his teaching career at J.B. Alexander High School in Laredo before relocating to Houston, where he was a high school band director at La Porte High School then earned the position Director of Mariachi Studies at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) and Meyerland MSPVA. He has served as a mariachi clinician for Houston ISD Summer Enrichment Camps, Rice University’s Mariachi Camp, and judged mariachi programs across the State of Texas. With over 25 years of mariachi performance experience, he has toured Europe with Mariachi Imperial de America through the Fulbright-Hays program, opened for Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, Pesado, George Lopez, and performed alongside various artists.
As a second-generation mariachi, William is proficient in brass, vocals, and the Armonia instrumentation as well as in transcribing and arranging mariachi music. He currently resides in Laredo with his family and is the music/mariachi director at Farias Elementary School.