SAN ANTONIO — Seven months after the passing of pioneering musician and educator Belle Ortiz, the San Antonio school where she helped set the roots for mariachi and ballet folklorico at a high school level renamed its music building in her memory.
Now visitors to Lanier High School will see "Belle Ortiz Music Building" adorning it.
“We love music, and for her to give us that privilege to be able to connect is amazing,” said Zayra Reyes, a Lanier senior and young mariachi who performed at the Thursday unveiling ceremony. "Because we have that motivation and more of that passion, it has drastically changed our careers."
Few individuals have left as indelible a mark on the heart of music education as Ortiz. At Lanier, the Mariachi Campanas de America cofounder created the first high school ballet folklorico program in the country, according to San Antonio ISD. She also helped pave the way for mariachi to become a cultural phenomenon with her advocacy work in the 1970s.
Ortiz died in July 2023 at the age of 90. Her son, Roland San Miguel, followed in his mother's footsteps and became a teacher. Speaking with KENS 5 last summer, he said her work building mariachi music education and convincing schools to teach it has touched countless lives.
"This lady changed my life," he said. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be who I am today," San Miguel said, recounting some of the stories he'd heard since his mother's passing, which sparked an outpouring of remembrance.
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