The first Latino drum major at Prairie View A&M University says the band director at Sunset High School changed his life.
Jesus Mata graduated from Sunset in 2017 and is a senior at the historically black college, which is known for its Marching Storm band.
Mata, 24, is originally from Río Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico but grew up in Oak Cliff. A teacher in middle school asked him to play trombone because he has long arms, Mata told his school’s publication. At Sunset, band director Rametria Smith encouraged him academically.
“She is someone who pushed me towards really going to school,” Mata told the publication. “I didn’t have a plan to go to college. I just thought I’d graduate high school and go straight to work. But now I have lots of goals and things I want to do in life – teaching, directing my own band, and working my way up to the college-teaching level.”
Drum majors auditions take place over three months and include “conditioning, performance training and an audition in front of the entire band, followed by deliberations at the staff level and a poll based on the students’ perspective of the line audition.”
Here’s what Timmey Zachery, PVU’s director of bands, says about him:
He has played all applicable ensembles at Prairie View A&M University: Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Trombone Choir, Brass Ensemble and Brass Choir. His dedication to the university is far-reaching, and he is respected by his peers, the faculty, and staff.
The Prairie View football team plays Texas A&M University at Kyle Field this Saturday, Nov. 20.
Watch the Marching Storm march into the State Fair Classic in September below. Mata is the drum major on the far left.
