Sinfónica Azteca: Empowering Young Musicians Across Mexico, the Americas, and Beyond
Traditional Veracruz dance and song ensemble Caña Dulce, Caña Brava, highlighted the folklore of Mexican music during the closing concert.
The story of Sinfónica Azteca begins about five years ago, during the time when the world was just beginning to reemerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the globe, music programs and youth orchestras were struggling to survive. The need to restore trust in live music and reignite enthusiasm among young musicians had never been greater.
In Mexico, this posed a double challenge, since we had always lacked a national youth orchestra capable of uniting the country’s young musicians in high-caliber, immersive artistic experiences. To fill that gap, Fundación Azteca de Grupo Salinas, a nonprofit organization that promotes social responsibility and inclusive prosperity, formed a collaboration with the international Orchestra of the Americas Group. Their goal was to provide students with meaningful online and in-person encounters that celebrate the transformative power of music.
Sinfónica Azteca is the result of that collaboration. Like many programs around the world, we prioritize both music education and social impact. Here’s how we’re different: our focus is on providing curated, intensive support, together with a unique cultural exchange experience, for young musicians who have already achieved high levels of proficiency.
Another important difference is that the encounters we create for our students are structured to be short-term. Our virtual academy connects them directly with prominent musicians across the world, for 200 hours of live instruction over four months, and our artistic residency spans a week of in-person ensemble music-making. We’ve chosen these short-term frameworks because 1) this is the only way they can be accessible to young musicians across Mexico and beyond, and 2) this allows us to reach a new cohort of young musicians each year. By blending online and in-person elements, our program makes professional-level opportunities accessible to young musicians across Mexico and the Americas—and, slowly but steadily, to young musicians all around the world.
Our goals go beyond developing superb musicians. We’re guided by these five “pillars of impact”:
- Artistic and musical development
- Leadership and entrepreneurship
- Cultural competence and social impact: emphasizing diversity, equity, inclusion, and civic engagement
- Wellbeing and personal growth: prioritizing confidence, resilience, and mental health
- International exchange: connecting cultures and expanding global perspectives
Entry into Sinfónica Azteca is highly competitive; the application process requires a comprehensive portfolio that includes audition videos, personal essays, letters of recommendation, and a record of academic and musical achievements. Beyond musical skill, the program also seeks musicians who aspire to use their artistry as a force for positive change and to have a meaningful impact on their communities through music.
In 2025, 125 young musicians were admitted to the program. Early in the year, they began their four-month virtual academy, including both instrumental coaching sessions with eminent musicians around the world and also interactive group seminars in music appreciation and analysis. (Classes are scheduled to accommodate different time zones, so that students from across Mexico, and in other countries, can participate.)
Upon completion of the Academy, they began their week-long artistic residency in Puebla, Mexico, at the La Constancia Mexicana, a historic former textile factory now converted to an arts center (which includes Espezanza Azteca, an El Sistema-like free music education school, and the Instituto Superior de Música Esperanza Azteca, ISMEA, both sponsored by Fundación Azteca). The immersive experience of the artistic residency brings cohort members physically together for intensive orchestral rehearsals, chamber music projects, master classes, and cultural outings that deepen their connection to Mexico’s artistic heritage. The residency this year concluded, as always, with public concerts across major Mexican cities and venues.
Particularly moving has been the impact of the residency on fellows from underserved communities, who arrive with limited resources but immense passion. Says Julio Saldaña, General Director of the Instituto Superior de Música Esperanza Azteca and one of the driving forces behind Esperanza Azteca and Sinfónica Azteca: “Regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds, dozens of young Mexicans and international fellows find a space here where their talents can flourish, along with their sense of belonging, their discipline, and, above all, their camaraderie.”
It’s important to note that an undertaking as ambitious as Sinfónica Azteca could not exist without the support of a deep collaboration between multiple cultural and musical institutions. In our case, those institutions are Fundación Azteca, with its philanthropic efforts and vision; the Orchestra of the Americas Group, with its multiple outward-radiating connections; the Global Leaders Institute (GLI), with its leadership development focus; and the OAcademy, with its competence in digitally connected training. These institutions form a collaborative ecosystem that allows us to help prepare young artists for the demands of the 21st-century creative landscape.
International collaboration has progressively become a defining feature and one of the most significant milestones of Sinfónica Azteca. The inclusion of OAcademy Fellows has furthered this development: over the past several years, the project has welcomed fellows from countries including Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Panama, Slovenia, Russia, the United States, and Venezuela.
More than a training ground, Sinfónica Azteca is a space for cross-cultural dialogue, mutual inspiration, and lifelong connection. In an era where music can often feel disconnected from daily life, this program puts it squarely at the center of community, identity, and change. Says trumpet teacher and Mexican brass pedagogue legend Timothy McKeown, “Sinfónica Azteca is an empowering experience that expands what is possible for its participants. The aperture of opportunity grows wider.”
It’s our hope that by reimagining and reshaping orchestral training for a new generation in Mexico, across the Americas, and beyond, Sinfónica Azteca is bringing new transformational energy to the world of symphonic music.
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