Meet the Instructor

I was born in Madison, Wisconsin, where my New York-born (Colombian-American and Jewish -American) parents were studying at the University of Wisconsin.  Both of my parents became politically active there and we travelled to Cuba in 1960, shortly after the Revolution.  

in 1961 we moved to San Francisco's Mission District and my parents became a part of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, a theater group that performed in the parks and other politically active arts organizations. In 1968 my family went to Cuba to work on a film for U.S. public television and went to boarding school at the National Art School of Cuba. During my year there I learned a lot about the Cuban Revolution and the new emerging culture.

As a teenager I was active in the arts scene in the Latino community playing in Latin Rock bands and working with Central American solidarity groups that were supporting revolutionary movements in Nicaragua and El Salvador.  We organized art exhibits, poetry readings and dances to support these groups and to raise consciousness about these struggles.

In 1977 I started at U.C. Berkeley and began to study about Latin American history and culture and mentored by a Brazilian folkorist, Paolo de Carvalho Neto. I worked during these years as a musician in local salsa bands and struggled to combine work and study.

In 1979, I graduated from UC Berkeley in Sociology and Chicano Studies and travelled to Nicaragua shortly after the July 19th triumphant entrance of the Sandinistas in Managua after defeating the army of the Somoza dictatorship. I began working in the newly founded Ministry of Culture, under Father Ernesto Cardinal, a Jesuit priest and poet, a major force in the Liberation Theology movement. 

I worked in the Folkloric Research Department as a researcher and began using my music experience to teach music to some of the revolutionary music groups. After two years I was asked to work with Carlos and Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy as a guitarist in the Canto Epico al FSLN, a musical and poetic history of the Sandinista Revolution. I then joined Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy and Mancotal as a full time musician and toured all over Latin America with them, visiting many countries, performing and participating in workshops, seminars and discussions about the role of culture in Latin America.  We performed and travelled with artists such as Silvio Rodriguez, Pablo Milanes, Mercedes Sosa, Quilapayun, Inti Illimani, Ali Primera, and Amparo Ochoa throughout Latin America and Europe for 8 years.

In 1989, I returned to the United States and started my doctorate at UC San Diego and began working as music producer to support my family.  In 1995, my music production, Ritmo y Candela, was nominated for a Grammy award and I began to split my career between teaching and music production. Since 1995 I have produced over 80 cds, that have received 8 Grammy nominations and have composed numerous film scores and music for films.

I continue to teach at UC Santa Cruz, San Francisco City College and sit on the boards of several cultural institutions in the Bay Area and the have been on the Board of Governors of The Recording Academy three times..