Music faculty Jorge Martinez-Rios and Daniel Vega-Albela, 2012 Latin Grammy Award winners, keep students in tune with world-class instruction

Music faculty Jorge Martinez-Rios and
Daniel Vega-Albela won 2012 Latin Grammy awards for their work on the album "Brasileiro, works of Mignone," by Cuarto Latinoamericano. The award-winning CD, on the Sono Lumnius label, won for Best Classical Recording.

The pair are founding members of The La Catrina Quartet, in residence at NMSU. Hailed by Yo Yo Ma as wonderful ambassadors for music, the string quartet tours regularly throughout the U.S. and Mexico. They are currently working on four CDs of Mexican, Latin-American and European string quartet music.

"We are proud to represent NMSU around the U.S.," Martinez-Rios said. "This [Latin Grammy] award will definitely keep the quartet with a busy concert agenda. And locally, we'll continue doing our outreach concerts as well as recruiting and showing students from New Mexico and abroad what we are doing here in the Department of Music."

Jorge Martinez-Rios joined the Department of Music in 2009. The assistant professor of music, a native of Torreon, Mexico, holds a Master of Music in viola performance from Western Michigan University, as well as a master's degree in chamber music from Kent State University. Martinez-Rios has recorded seven CDs with renowned ensembles and soloists from both Mexico and the U.S.

Assistant Professor of Music Vega-Albela, a violinist, began teaching at NMSU in 2009. His devotion to teaching is well-recognized; he was featured in the 2004 and 2005 editions of Who's Who Among America's Teachers. A native of Mexico City, Vega-Albela was just 15 when he won a silver medal in the first National Violin Competition. He holds a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from the Mannes College of Music in New York City, a Master of Music Performance from Western Michigan University and a Master of Chamber Music from Kent State University. Vega-Albela has toured as soloist in Mexico and Japan.