Coming Home: Constructing Cultural Bridges I was very lucky growing up in Oakland—indeed, I have been very lucky all my life. That’s not to
Elena Durán
say that I haven’t encountered difficulties and barriers along the way, but when I have encountered them I have been able to use them as learning experiences and have benefited from them. My parents both came to the United States as two year olds. They insisted that my brother, sister and I always speak English at home and also made sure that we always went to good schools. I begged for a flute when I was eight years old and eventually got a second-hand flute for Christmas. It was ten years before I was able to have private lessons but the Oakland Schools system at that time was really wonderful and I never cease to give thanks for the US Tax Dollars, which made my musical education possible. I was also very fortunate to find my own “Mr. Holland” at Skyline High School in the form of Richard Adams, who was our truly inspiring Head of Music. Another part of my luck was having “Tita”, Soledad Muñoz—my grandmother, who refused to speak English once she had acquired her American citizenship. I had to speak Spanish with Tita and in addition to that, every Friday night she took me to the Star Cinema to see Mexican movies: two films plus newsreels from Mexico and the Mariachis, as well. Friday nights were my idea of Heaven. Little did I know that years later I would have the pleasure of counting the great Manuel Esperon as a friend and the privilege of working with him in his last years. He wrote the scores for more than five hundred movies and more than nine hundred songs.
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