Loyda Elizabeth Lopez Cabrera

Several members of the board actually met Loyda in 2019, during a visit to Guatemala with the Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy. She impressed us with her beautiful Marimba playing while we were helping paint a mural on the wall of the cultural center run by her family.

When we learned that she could use some help with her school expenses, we were overjoyed to be able to help! To introduce you, we feel it best to use the words of her sponsor, Anna, who has known her and her family for a long time.

It is with great pleasure that I present the scholarship candidate Loyda Lopez Cabrera from Concepcion Chiquirichapa, Guatemala for your consideration. Loyda is a very bright and passionate 18-year-old Maya Mam musician and student at the conservatory from the Guatemalan Highlands. She is a part of a family of gifted artists including her father, an applied linguist of the Mam language, and her four brothers, Oliver – a curator, Rony – an epigraphist, Danilo – a skilled woodcarver and Judiel – a fine artist. She also lives with her two nieces and peers, Lady and Amarilis, daughters of her eldest brother who passed away 7 years ago.

There are many reasons why I nominate Loyda. She is an exceptional human being. Not only does she shine with talent when she plays the marimba and piano, she has an exceptional determination and sensitivity. Since she was little, she has loved music and she always looked up to her late brother Edgar as an inspiration to learn to play new instruments. As a child she studied at the music conservatory but soon had to leave her dream aside to continue on with her formal education.

When I met her three four years ago, she was struggling to finish 9th grade and hurting to continue on with her passion to study music. Her family has always sought out the best for Loyda, and the condition for allowing her to study music at the conservatory was to finish 9th grade with a high average. Time was running out though, the conservatory was beginning its last year of accepting teenage admissions and Loyda’ s passion was also deterring her from focusing on other subjects in school. At Vida Digna our job is to look for feasible educational options for young people in tough situations, advocate for them with their parents and educational institutions, and support them as they realize their dreams. Our function was put to work in Loyda’ s situation as we helped her build a case for simultaneously continuing 9th grade in weekend classes while starting back up at the conservatory. Against the odds she was able to reach her goal that year. She has been working steadily towards her passion and at the same time is developing a critical voice in favor of young Mayan women. It has been beautiful to witness her growth. We hope you can join us in making her dream come true.

Loyda’s application letter to us was just as lovely as she is.

Esteemed ONE Board

I hereby send you a greeting from the village of Duraznales, Concepcion Chiquirichapa, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. My name is Loyda Elizabeth Lopez Cabrera. I am 18 years old and I study at the Jesus Castillo Conservatory of Music in Quetzaltenango.

When I was little, it caught my attention when I saw people playing instruments. And well, that’s where the love and passion I feel for music began. I began playing an instrument when I was 8 years old. I began playing the tun [a Guatemalan instrument, like a teeny little marimba] with my brother every day. I felt like music always filled some void, and after a while I began to learn how to play the marimba. And then music turned into a passion that grew bigger every day. And when I finished primary school, I decided to study music. Every week of that year was very complicated because we didn’t have enough money for transportation, and my father began to sell beans to pay for our transportation. I finished my first year and tried to continue to my second year but the economy was terrible. I stopped studying for four years, and recently decided to study again.

I have three dreams with music, and they are:

To play in a marimba group,

Be a part of a mariachi group

And also to be a soloist and to write my own songs

And more than a dream for me, this is a goal that I have to achieve.

If you award me this scholarship and this opportunity to study, I promise to give my best in this remaining six years of study at the music conservatory and also to do my best in each performance that is presented.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and for helping young people who need it. I say goodbye thanking you for everything you do for young people.

Loyda Elizabeth Lopez Cabrera

We are so excited to welcome Loyda to the foundation! The pandemic and general life in Guatemala has not been easy on many people; that Loyda is still determined to move forward with her dreams makes us very happy, and we are delighted to be able to help her achieve those dreams.

January 2025

Loyda will be getting surgery soon for the cyst on her foot, and we’re excited that she’ll be able to feel more “normal.” She is starting classes at the Institute for Creative Music, a private school in Xela that offers classes in music production, which she is very interested in. Her old music conservatory was just too much; Loyda felt overwhelmed, and was less interested in playing classical music than in creating and producing her own music. Since she had to leave school anyway due to her health problems, she has decided to enter the Instituto de Música Creativa. She has classes only two days per week, and she will also be taking part in a program offered by the US Embassy for women entrepreneurs. She’s really excited to have found both of these opportunities, and we are excited to see Loyda loving her studies again, and a lot less stressed.

December 2024

We were able to have a wonderful Zoom conversation with Loyda and learned about some of what she is doing while she is working on improving her health and hoping to re-enter school in February. She has seen a doctor about her digestion and the cyst in her foot, which will need to be operated on. We’ve agreed to pay for that surgery, as we did with Valentina. She is doing the exercises that she received from a Certified Hand Therapist here in Flagstaff and she says they help relax her hands, which is great. The doctor she visited also said she needs to lower the stress in her life, and to eat more fruits, vegetables, and meat, to help her digestion. Unfortunately, she doesn’t like meat, but she says she will try!

While she works on her health, she has been playing in a marimba group with some other former students of the conservancy—students who had to leave school due to different issues. She’s been enjoying that, and also playing in a marching band that performs in different community parades and celebrations. She says there are 50 or 60 people in the band. She also wants to try out for singing with this group for the coming year.

Loyda is hoping to return to school in February, once her health is improved. She can’t re-enter the Conservancy, because of her age, but there are two possibilities in Xela. One is ESFAC, essentially a “high school” for the arts. It would only be one year of study, and only on Saturdays. The other is called Colegio Bellas Artes. It’s a small private institution that offers study in music and arts as well as other disciplines. That would be three years of study, but since it is so small, there are no openings at this time. But perhaps she’ll be able to enter a bit later.

We talked about how there are many pathways to doing music, and that as long as she is doing something she loves and is interested in, we don’t care which pathway she takes. We’re very proud of her that she wants to continue studying, and bring her music to the world.

August 2024

Loyda has been having some trouble with her hands and her health and she did not manage to pass two of her classes at the semester. She and her teachers have decided she probably should not stay at the the conservatory and continue studying. We are very sad about this, as is she, and we hope we can help her figure out what is wrong with her health. We will continue to support her in her musical endeavors. We just want her to continue to play her music and do what she loves so much and has so much talent at doing.

She sent us a couple of letters at the semester, which we have translated here. The first one answers the questions we sent her, and the second tells us about having to leave school.

Letter #1

30 July 2024

Village of Los Duraznales, Concepcion Chiquirichapa

For: Christa Sadler and members of ONE

I have the honor of greeting all of you, and hoping that you are well and with your families. I am very grateful for the opportunity that you have given me in my musical education.

1. Can you describe the sensation that you have when you play an instrument or listen to music that you like?

Music gives me a way of seeing things. It relaxes me and makes me happy and at the same time it makes me feel more free and full. When I sit on stage I realize everything I want to convey; it gives me a very nice feeling to feel different emotions at the same time.

Playing different instruments has helped me to have goals, to be able to see myself in a way in which I can contribute to music, to create compositions. It has made me interested in ancient and ancestral music of my country. Music has changed my life. It has been a form of power to liberate all my pent up emotions and it feels very good seeing everything that one as an interpreter manages to transmit to the listeners and to feel an inexplicable satisfaction.

2. Do you feel that you are improving with your instrument? Tell us why or why not.

I feel that in the case of interpretation I have improved on the piano since everything needs to be very balanced. With the techniques to improve the speed of the instrument I am improving a bit more, and also with the clarinet, which is the most recent instrument that I have worked with. I have greatly improved the sound and strength and resistance of breathing when performing. Mi health problem is what limits me in improving my rehearsals and participating in groups. The sensation of music is very lovely, always trying to improve each day.

3. Tell us how your musical studies are going this year.

My studies are going well. But in these past days I have felt poorly in my health. The discomfort in my hands continues and my teachers have been worried about that. For the moment they are letting me rest to get better. I also want to tell you that this year I was chosen to be part of a youth choral ensemble at the capital and I went for several days. The experience was very nice where we had to sing in the cathedral. Invitations from other people do wonders with the instrument and always make for a very nice experience.

4. Tell us something that you would like to do and that you have not been able to do in your studies.

Music has brought me to do different things and have goals among which is musical composition, since it is a fundamental tool for any musician and for me to be able to create my own compositions. To be able to illuminate Guatemalan music more and to share more of myself. To be able to express myself through music and musical production. Also to know how to share with other people the knowledge that I have acquired en these years.

Thanking you for your fine attention and sending you a big hug.

Sincerely, Loyda Elizabeth Lopez Cabrera

Letter #2

30 July 2024

Village of Los Duraznales, Concepcion Chiquirichapa

For: Christa Sadler

I send a cordial greeting wishing you the best and that you are enjoying being with your loved ones.

Hello Christa, I am very grateful for the care you have for me and for your good wishes. I would like to tell you what has happened these past months. I have felt bad given that the discomfort in my hands continues and I also have a cyst on my foot. Because of that I started to feel bad since at times the pain wouldn’t let me work and because of the same situation my teachers were worried about what was happening and they told me that the best thing would be to take time to recuperate to be able to continue with my studies.

Since that would affect my health more, they recommended that I continue my studies after I recover and also, for the rest of this year, I wanted to do some internships at the San Juan Cultural Center and at the same time do research on ancestral music and how to resurrect it.

I would like if you would continue helping me since I am continuing with my desires to study music. I would like to tell you more in a video call and many thanks for always believing in me.

Hugs, Loyda

December 2023

Loyda has finished her school year and did well enough in all her classes to pass to the next grade – we’re really proud of her. When you look at her report card, she is taking so many different things, from choir to piano, marimba, guitar, and more. She was happy to perform in several school programs in other parts of the country and we’ve attached the video from a lovely performance in which she is part of the choir. Unfortunately, we can’t actually see which singer she is, but to know that her voice is a part of this beautiful performance is wonderful enough!

Loyda’s year-end letter to us is so filled with musical terms and ideas that it’s hard to understand for a non-musician even in English! But we love her description of how she feels about things depending on what kind of chord she is playing. She is learning so much, and really seems to be thriving. We’ve attached a link to her original letter, if you’d like to read it in Spanish, and a translation here.

Los Duraznales Concepcion Chiquirichapa

For: Christa Sadler

A warm welcome to the members of the board of Vida Digna and to Christa Sadler, wishing you all the best in your daily labors.

1. What was the most difficult during this school year? What was the best?

One of the things that is hard for me is in my harmonics class because it deals with a technique in which two or more musical notes are combined to create chords in order to reproduce an appropriate harmonic progression. The other is the clarinet since every note has a different position and one has to control your breath a lot and at the same time reach the high notes that are called for in the music. The other is the piano since this year we are doing a piece that in which the fingerings are very complicated.

2. Can you describe to us how you feel when you play music?

Music has helped me so much to see things since when I play a melody I imagine things differently, depending on whether the chord is a major or a minor chord, augmented, diminished. It is a very lovely sensation.

3. Are there any differences for you when you play music in a concert from when you play just with family or friends? Tell us why or why not.

When I play with my friends, it feels very different since there is a bigger responsibility to play with someone else and when I play in public I feel much more nervous to see how many people are there seeing what you are doing. 

4. What is something you are very proud of that you have accomplished this year?

This year, I had very different experiences from last year. This year I was participating in a musical band. I was part of the symphonic orchestra and I went to the capital. I was a soloist in the conservatory chorale and because of all these activities I am very happy.

5. What are you looking forward to most for the coming year?

This next year I am looking forward to many things but mostly the audition that we are going to have to change levels. And I also am looking forward very much to the harmonics classes, since this class has a lot of information that is very important to be able to understand bringing musical theory to your practice. Also the chamber music class, because it is really interesting to play with other musicians that are very good. And also the orchestral music class since I have very much enjoyed being a part of the orchestra.

Thanking you for your attention, and a big hug.

Sincerely,

Loyda Elizabeth Lopez Cabrera

October 2023

Loyda is doing well in school although she still struggles with a couple of her classes. We hope she can reach a place where she is comfortable with those classes. She’s been performing all over the region, and even the country. She sent us a link to a Facebook recording of a beautiful concert that the school did, performing “Ode to Joy” in Spanish. You don’t need to log into Facebook to watch it, and we encourage everyone to watch and listen to it. It’s very lovely.

DECEMBER 2022

Loyda passed all her classes this year and so will be moving up to the 5th year of her conservatory schooling. We are very excited about that. Her year-end letter to us was filled with information and answers to all our questions. This young woman has so many dreams and plans! It was wonderful to read about her studies, and the different things she was able to do this past year. We were also impressed that she passed all her exams and evaluations despite the fact that she had immobilized wrists to help her tendons, and her teachers only gave her a short time to make up the work!

We had to include the actual letter because her handwriting is so amazing!

TRANSLATION

The Village of Duraznales, Concepcion Chiquirichapa

To: Christa Sadler

Esteemed people:

A cordial greeting to the members of the board of directors of Vida Digna and to Christa Sadler, wishing you all a happy beginning of the year with your family members and in your work. I, one of the beneficiaries of the scholarships, am grateful for the opportunity that you have given me to continue studying in 4^th year for my musical studies in the Conservatory of Music Jesus Castillo de Quetzaltenango. During my educational process I received economic aid that helped me to cover my expenses for the 2022 school year.

What was the most interesting thing that you learned this year?

• New techniques for playing the marimba.
• Alignment of the resonance box of the marimba.
• Changes of musical ideas.
• Techniques of performance in piano, such as accompaniment and collective.
• Techniques for how to play the nuances (there are different grades of intensity with which one must approach a musical work).
• Musical fingerings (this is reading the musical staff that indicates to us which fingers to use for the playing of the instruments).
• Techniques or performance for the voice warmup before singing a song.
• Working with Office on the computer.
• Working with Publisher, Canva and other computer programs.

What was something difficult that you are proud of having done this year?

• I passed my practical exams having immobilizers on my hands.
• Audio recording with some classmates from San Martin Chile Verde.
• Musical participation with Guatemalan students and with the National Youth Orchestra of Spain (JONDE).
• Participation in the Big Band student group from Conservatory Jesus Castillo.
• I got my computer diploma.
• Special invitation in December of 2022 to play with the municipal orchestra of Quetzaltenango.

Was there something unexpected that you learned? Not necessarily at school; it could also be in your life.

Something unexpected that happened to me this year was that the tendons in my wrists became inflamed. My hands were immobilized for two months and that affected me principally because during that time there were evaluations. At those times I couldn’t be evaluated in four classes, which were piano, marimba, group piano and accompaniment. At that time, they gave me only one month to make that up, given that I had to do my evaluations, and thanks to god I did pass the year.

What are you most looking forward to in school for the coming year?

• Pass the school year in 2023.
• Maintain an average to be able to be chosen for other musical activities.
• To learn to play other new instruments, such as strings, to be a professional musician.
• Reform the marimba group at the school.
• To achieve another vocal register.
• To compose melodies and musical arrangements.

Thanking you for your attention, and a big hug.

Sincerely, Loyda Elizabeth Lopez Cabrera

August 2022

Loyda has been doing really well in her school this year. She recently sent us a snippet of a video of a recital in which she took part for the conservatory, along with a fellow marimbista and a student on horn. We’re happy to hear she’s doing well still performing. She has so much talent and we can’t wait to see where she goes.

January 2022

Loyda had some struggles in her 2021 school year. She had a lot of challenges with the Covid lockdowns and virtual classes. She also got sick for a while (not Covid), and she ended up getting her keyboard a bit too late to catch up. As a result, she didn’t pass her piano class and has to repeat the year. The amazing thing is that it is clear her professors recognize her talents, because she was one of only two students afforded that opportunity. She tells us that she loves her classes, and in her letter describing last year, the challenges and the accomplishments come through. We have no doubt that her “new” old year will go much more smoothly.

The Village of Duraznales Concepcion Chiquirichapa Quetzaltenango
23 January 2022

To: Christa

Hello esteemed Christa. For me it is a pleasure to greet you from my humble home, I hope that you find yourself healthy. After this brief greeting, I tell you the following.

QUESTION NUMBER 1

Was this year distinct from last year of school? If it was, how was it different?
This year of 2021 was a bit complicated since the academic level was higher and more demanding to be at an advanced level speaking in musical terms, since this year I had the experience of studying a subject to be able to advance to another level, and unfortunately I could not pass a course that was the main instrument, the piano. I passed the other courses to give me the opportunity to continue training as a musician at the Jesus Gaslillo Conservatory.

QUESTION NUMBER 2

What did you learn that you simply loved and fascinated you? What did you learn that you really didn’t enjoy all that much? Describe why you felt that way about those subjects.
Learning to compose melodies, to extract harmonies from other melodies, to work in a team with other musicians, understand and learn melodic scales y functional tonal harmonies. The things I didn’t like were virtual classes, since in-person classes are more effective in terms of the academic precision of the body to the instrument.

QUESTION NUMBER 3

The following is a video: Accompaniment (we have attached it below. It’s a lovely piece and she is accompanied by one of her professors on the cello)
 

QUESTION NUMBER 4

Can you think of a one day this past year that was a wonderful day? Describe it to us. Why was it so wonderful? What happened?
During 2021 I had many positive experiences. I was invited to take part as an organizer in an important event for the indigenous peoples that was streamed online in commemoration of the International Day of Indigenous People. Also, in September we students did recitals with each instrument.

QUESTION NUMBER 5

What are you most proud of this year in school?
The achievements from 2021 that I am most proud of is that I have been recognized as a marimba player by other people and that I have been invited to join other musical groups.

At this time I want to thank you all for having a spirit to help me since it is also a commitment for me to help other people in training them to be marimba players. Thank you.

Sincerely, Loyda Elizabeth Lopez Cabrera

August 2021

In August, Loyda was involved in a day-long cultural celebration of Maya Mam culture, during which she played the marimba as part of a marimba group. She was written up in the newspapers, and the whole thing was recorded and shown on Facebook. Her father was one of the organizers and presenters. She simply shines when she plays music, and we are really excited for her to receive all these opportunities to express herself, her talent, and her culture.