Miguel Gutierrez: 0:15

Welcome to another episode of Charros y Clásicos a Bosky Strings podcast. I'm your host, Miguel Gutiérrez, and I'm here with my good friend and co-host, Joel Ozuna.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 0:23

Hello everyone and thank you for joining. Today's guest hails from Edinburgh, texas, and his journey is nothing short but inspiring. A proud graduate from Edinburgh High School, he holds a degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M and College Station. By day, he works for an engineering firm in McAllen and by night he continues to share his love for music as a violinist for the Valley Symphony Orchestra. Please welcome the multi-talented Carlos Perales.

Carlos Peralez: 0:47

Hi, how are you all doing? Thank you for having me.

Miguel Gutierrez: 0:49

Appreciate it. No, thank you, carlos, for agreeing to do this, even though I had to really really convince you. So how are you today?

Carlos Peralez: 0:59

I'm doing good. I'm actually doing really really good. Looking forward to the Easter coming up.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 1:03

That's right Next week, right Next weekend.

Miguel Gutierrez: 1:08

Aren't you glad that the season of Symphony is over? Yes and no.

Carlos Peralez: 1:10

I wish we could play year-round, but in a sense, yeah, it's good to take a little break, I guess.

Miguel Gutierrez: 1:17

Yeah, so we invited you here so you can share your story with us. I've seen you for many years in the symphony and I remember being a kid and seeing your face. Since then, I mean, I'm pretty good with faces and I've always wondered you know where you come from and such, so maybe you can tell us about yourself today.

Carlos Peralez: 1:34

Sure, born and raised here in Edinburgh, texas. I've been here all my life, other than the four years when I went away to college at College Station, like you mentioned, and then I came back and I've been here ever since, so really that's been the only places that I've lived in in Edinburgh and in College Station.

Miguel Gutierrez: 1:51

Nice. So let's talk about more of your background. Now I know you have a sister, yes, right, and did you start together? Or when did you start doing music in your life?

Carlos Peralez: 2:02

Six years younger than me, so I started first and then in the public schools, of course, and then she began after me and we both played the violin. She played in the orchestra. Back then there was only one high school, of course, so she joined me with that. My brother was not into it. He was actually in choir in junior high, but in high school he did not pursue anything in the music field.

Miguel Gutierrez: 2:26

Okay, so there's three of you. Yes, Okay, okay, so when? I guess we'll go back to you. When did you start playing the violin?

Carlos Peralez: 2:35

I started playing at age 10. I was at Lamar School, which is still there, by the university. Back then we found out that they would bus you to junior high if you wanted to join orchestra in elementary school.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 2:49

So my friends and I got together and they said you know what?

Carlos Peralez: 2:51

let's go. We get out three days a week, I believe it was so sure. Let's sign up for orchestra. And we signed up and we would be bused to the junior high, which was North Junior High at the time, and we would go there three times a week. And junior high at the time. And we would go there three times a week and our teacher back then was Mr Thomas Morehouse. I don't know if you've ever heard of him, but he was one of the founding, I guess, teachers here in the Valley Industry Program. So he was my teacher for fifth and sixth grade and then after that it was Ms Proctor, I think, in seventh grade and then Ms Gardena so I know you know was my teacher in eighth grade. So those were my first three teachers and again, I started at age 10 and continued on to junior high.

Miguel Gutierrez: 3:31

Nice, nice. So when did you meet Kurt Rehm?

Carlos Peralez: 3:38

I met Kurt Rehm in high school when I went to EHS. I was a freshman and that's when I first heard of him and really I had not met him since then until then. And then once I got to know him there and really he began to be my mentor for life basically Not just with the violin playing but just in life in general. Everything that he did I really admired always. He was very close with all his students, always gave of his time, so he was definitely a big inspiration in my life.

Miguel Gutierrez: 4:11

The reason why I ask is because I know well. You know, he was my teacher too and he would always talk about when I moved to Edinburgh in 1975, and I'm trying to do the math to see if he was already here when you started. He came in 1975.

Carlos Peralez: 4:25

Let's see, I went to high school in 1976.

Miguel Gutierrez: 4:30

Okay, so you're probably like one of his first batches, okay.

Carlos Peralez: 4:34

I believe he had one year before I went to be my freshman year. Yeah, because I graduated high school in 1980. So yeah, I believe he had one year, I'm trying to think of the name of the director back then that was with him, Mr Cohen.

Miguel Gutierrez: 4:47

I think was his name.

Carlos Peralez: 4:48

He was the one that had been there for years, and years with the. Edinburgh Strings, and then Kurt was a new up-and-coming director.

Miguel Gutierrez: 4:57

So you're also an All-Stater right.

Carlos Peralez: 5:00

An All-Stater from way back when?

Miguel Gutierrez: 5:01

yes, what year did you make it?

Carlos Peralez: 5:05

I made it my junior and senior years. Also two times. Two times, yes, I made it, I guess 1979 and 1980. Oh, wow, and that was really really fun, really fun to do back then Do you come from a musical family? My dad played a lot in conjuntos and stuff with the guitar only and he loved Oteño music and stuff.

Miguel Gutierrez: 5:32

And he played the piano a little bit, but nothing formal, no formal music. Did your parents want to inspire you all to follow music or have music in your training?

Carlos Peralez: 5:39

They were not against it. I don't think they really knew what it was, as neither was I. Like I said, I got into it just because of getting out of school and going to junior high and they were willing to do that, but just out of interest. You know, back then we would rent our instruments. You either had a school instrument or you rent one, and I remember the price. It was $6.85a month to rent an instrument. That was my first instrument. It was a three-quarter size violin and I played that for, I think, three years, till my seventh grade year, and then I used a school instrument till my sophomore year in high school.

Miguel Gutierrez: 6:13

I know that you have a story or you told. I don't know if it was you or your sister Norma who told Joel that story about how you had bought instruments together or something like that.

Carlos Peralez: 6:23

I don't recall that story Now.

Carlos Peralez: 6:24

My instrument comes from Mr Rame. Mr Rame handpicked mine in 1978. I was at the end of my sophomore year. In the summer he went to a music store and he actually picked one for me and one for Moises. He said these are for you, guys, if you want them. You know, when he handpicked them, they were really, really nice Lewis and Sons at the time, you know and he said this is the one I want for you, carlos, this is the one I want for you, moises. And it took a while before we actually purchased them, but he allowed us to play them for a while and then we finally my dad, finally, lot of money and uh, to this day, you still play on that same instrument I play on the same instrument.

Carlos Peralez: 7:13

Yes, in fact you've done some work on it, yeah it's.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 7:16

It's funny, because he came into the shop, um, because somebody told him that he needed a new bridge and after inspecting his instrument, I'm like man, this bridge is perfect, there's nothing wrong with it. And then he told he told me that that's the original bridge oh man I, I couldn't believe it. You know that just tells everyone that as long as you take care of your instrument, it could last you a lifetime so it must have been like 30 years old, right?

Carlos Peralez: 7:37

something like that well, from 1978 22, it was like 47 years old.

Miguel Gutierrez: 7:42

It's a 47. It's a long time.

Carlos Peralez: 7:45

It's a long time and I'm so used to it I've played it everywhere. I would feel uncomfortable playing something else. I've always wanted to buy a nice violin, a big one, you know, really good sound. But at this age I don't know. I might as well stick with mine. Now my sister. Of course, she had a really nice instrument that my dad bought her, and I remember getting upset when he bought it for her she was also in high school because he paid $2,000 for hers.

Carlos Peralez: 8:10

And I was like hey dad come on, you know, and anyway she got that and you know it's unfortunate but that one was stolen several years ago.

Miguel Gutierrez: 8:19

I remember that from a restaurant. From the Longhorn Restaurant on 10th Street Because she had come to Joel when that happened, when she was looking for another one. Yes, I remember now.

Carlos Peralez: 8:29

So she bought some from you guys. I don't know if it was two or three, I think there was two of them that she wanted to purchase. She couldn't decide on one or the other and she ended up getting both. She ended up getting both. I said, well, lucky you. And they're fine, fine instruments.

Miguel Gutierrez: 8:40

I like to play on those so tell us, let's go back to to your, your journey. So, uh, you made all-state junior senior year and then you graduate. And then what? What happened?

Carlos Peralez: 8:53

well, I wanted to go into the, the, uh, the music field. But I I didn't want to be a teacher, for whatever reason, I just wanted I want to be a performer. And that's very I just wanted. I wanted to be a performer and that's very tough and as a kid, you know, you think maybe, oh my God, I can do it, I can do it, I can be a concert violinist or be in a major symphony orchestra.

Carlos Peralez: 9:13

But then you know, reality sets in and you say, oh, you go to Allstate and you see all the kids there that are much younger than you, that are virtuosos, and you're like this is not, it's not practical for me to pursue this field, being a soloist, right. So I always was pretty fairly good in mathematics. So really from my sophomore year I was kind of gearing, if it's not music, into engineering field. I didn't know what engineering field to go into. There's it's so broad, but I kind of decided to go into civil engineering. But I did not want to give up my violin playing for anything. So I made sure that that was still a focus of my life.

Carlos Peralez: 9:51

And to this day, I think, I get to play with a lot of outstanding musicians throughout the state and I just enjoy it very much.

Miguel Gutierrez: 9:59

Where did you go to college?

Carlos Peralez: 10:02

Well, I came to Pan American here it was called Pan American College back in the 80s for two years they had what was called a pre-engineering school Really not many classes. So I took just maybe three classes that were engineering related and I took some music like music appreciation. I took piano, beginning piano, and I was able to be in the symphony. So I concentrated more on my violin playing during those years, even though I wasn't in music school, because I finally got a teacher to help me, which is Kurt Rehm's father, gilbert Rehm Ah yes, who was a concert violinist back in the day right and conductor yes, and conductor, so I would take lessons, 30-minute lessons which lasted about two hours, because he liked to talk a lot.

Carlos Peralez: 10:52

But I enjoyed all his stories because he's from the ages of the greats.

Miguel Gutierrez: 10:53

Yeah, the mid-20th century.

Carlos Peralez: 10:55

Fritz Kreisler and Heifetz and all those guys. So I loved to take lessons with him. So, yeah, I pursued that for two years because, you know the way it was back then there really weren't. Edinburgh was the only school that had a string program in the Valley. So Mr Rain was along with, like some helpers Norma Cardenas, Priscilla Jones, Mary Donise, Mary Donise so he didn't really have the time to give us private lessons, you know. So he latched me on to his father, said, hey, you're waiting to go to civil engineering school in the next couple of years, why don't you go with my dad?

Carlos Peralez: 11:31

I said sure, so I was able to take lessons with him, and that's where I really got to play the most, I think, in my life, those two years that I was here.

Miguel Gutierrez: 11:40

What year did you join the symphony?

Carlos Peralez: 11:44

I joined it in the spring of 1978. I was a sophomore at the end of my sophomore year. Wow, and you haven't taken a break, right, well, other than the four years that I went away to college.

Miguel Gutierrez: 11:55

Yeah.

Carlos Peralez: 11:55

And really I was in the symphony over there too, in the Brazos Valley Symphony, when I went to A&M, so I've never really been out of the symphony scene ever since then.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 12:08

What was it like to take engineering courses and all of a sudden?

Carlos Peralez: 12:10

you're not in the music department. Well, I was fortunate that there was a Rieses Valley Symphony, as I mentioned over there. So that's the first thing I did when I went to College Station. I looked up what do they have, what kind of orchestras, and it was a real community orchestra. But there was room and I auditioned and they said, yeah, you can play, sure. So that kept me going and they had practice rooms in the student center there and I would go there on nights and just practice with the piano and stuff. So I got to play there. I got to play for a lot of weddings and parties. Musicals Did a lot of high school musicals all around. That started back in high school. So I was always able to be a part of music in that sense, playing with programs and little musicals that high school kids normally do.

Miguel Gutierrez: 12:57

How were you able to balance your engineering school life with this other life?

Carlos Peralez: 13:04

I think I needed this music to get me through engineering school life with this other life. I think I needed this music to get me through engineering school Because, not like others, I was not blessed with the best mind mechanically. But I think the violin really helped me out those times that I was struggling hard in school. I would go to the practice rooms there at the Memorial Student Center and just play and play and I would come out refreshed. And I was able to the practice rooms there at the Memorial Student Center and just play and play and I would come out refreshed and I was able to hit the books a little harder. So that helped me. It helped me a lot If I had big tests coming up and I was stressing. I'd go to a rehearsal with the symphony and, oh, just relax. It was relaxing, very, very relaxing. So it helped out a lot.

Miguel Gutierrez: 13:41

So, in a way, like it stimulated the brain right. Definitely, it sure did. Yeah, that's something that I tell a lot of students, uh, and it's. I'm happy that you're doing this again because you're able to be a living. You know word to that that even though you don't decide to study music, you could still be active in it and it helps in your other, in your other fields it sure, does, it does so what year did you graduate from A&M?

Carlos Peralez: 14:04

1986.

Miguel Gutierrez: 14:06

1986. And then you came back to the Valley.

Carlos Peralez: 14:09

I came back to the Valley and Dr Seale was a conductor here, so right away of course he knew me from back in 78, and he said come join us again. I said be happy to, and I've been there ever since.

Miguel Gutierrez: 14:21

Nice, nice. No re audition.

Carlos Peralez: 14:24

I don't think so. No, that's nice. I was grandfathered in.

Miguel Gutierrez: 14:30

You were grandfathered in yeah, so I think I've also correct me if I'm wrong, but your wife is a singer, right?

Carlos Peralez: 14:36

She's a singer. Yes, I met her. She was coming to Pan Am back in the early 90s and she was in a vocal performance and I met her when the symphony would get together with the chorale. And she has a beautiful voice. She's also an all-stater.

Miguel Gutierrez: 14:50

Oh, wow.

Carlos Peralez: 14:50

Yeah, and then you know I'm glad you brought it up because we would play a lot and sing and everything in weddings, especially in Reynosa. We had a contact that Moises set us up with. So for many years, until things got kind of bad in the border, we would do a lot of weddings, and those weddings in Mexico are usually a little different. You do like a civil ceremony and then you go to do the church ceremony and sometimes you would even go to the party afterwards, so we'd make a whole night. It was like a date night, even after we had our first child. We'd go on Fridays and say at least twice a month, make some good money, play weddings and eat at really nice restaurants for a fraction of the cost here in the United States.

Miguel Gutierrez: 15:37

And you have a daughter that sings too right.

Carlos Peralez: 15:39

My eldest. Yes, she's a three-year-old stater, wow, and she's a teacher right now in a junior high. So, yeah, she's pursuing that. She's on her. I think it's her fifth year.

Miguel Gutierrez: 15:49

Oh, wow, okay, that's awesome. So tell us more now about your work life. So you graduated from A&M, you come back here. Did you find a?

Carlos Peralez: 16:01

job. Right away I found a job with the Texas Department of Transportation. Right away I found a job with the Texas Department of Transportation, so I started there July 1st 1986, and I worked for 28 years, almost to the day. Then I retired in 2014, fully retired. People said you know how can you retire? I was 51 years old. They said you're not going to find anything to do at home.

Carlos Peralez: 16:24

And I was very, very happy at home. I love being at home. I got to homeschool my second daughter for three years sixth, seventh and eighth grade. We got to do a lot of traveling around the state, following my oldest daughter to college and stuff. So that was really exciting. The only thing is the pension is not as great.

Carlos Peralez: 16:42

So I was living very frugally and I needed something kind of to supplement some income. And then, lo and behold, an old friend of mine has an engineering firm. He tells me to go with him. I go with him for three years, get back in the saddle, so to speak, learn the design again, reinvent it and learn quite a bit in those three years. It got very, very hectic. Then the pandemic came, so I retired again and then a couple of months later this other friend of mine said come join us here. We have another, a bigger firm, a statewide firm that has a lot of offices in the state. So I went with him for two years and then that friend retired and he opened up his own firm, and that's the one that I'm working with now.

Miguel Gutierrez: 17:25

So I've been retired like three years. Lots of retire rehire permits for you.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 17:29

Yeah, yeah, but that's what's great about engineering you have so many options.

Carlos Peralez: 17:37

Yes, and right now I mean, the work is there. Fortunately. I'm very fortunate to be in a field that there's work there. If you look for it, in my position there's some positions unfortunately they're very difficult to find some income with, but this is one that the field is still there, although there's kind of trouble. Right now it's kind of slowing down.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 17:56

And when you went back, did you have to relearn a lot of things, or was it pretty much the same?

Carlos Peralez: 17:58

training. You know the last 11 years of my tech stock career I was more into construction and laboratory testing, materials testing. I was a lab engineer and pavement design engineer. So I was off of the design the design I did back in the 80s and the 90s. So when my friend said I need you to come work with me, he said I need you in design. So I had to relearn that, but he was really good with me. He said you know what? Take the whole summer, take two, three months and just learn all the rules again. It's the same thing you did back 20 years ago. It's just a couple of new rules and he was right. So now I've been doing that since 2017. So I think I've gotten back in the groove of design again.

Miguel Gutierrez: 18:43

But yeah, it took me a while to get back into the design phase. So how have this is now my question after hearing all this information how are you able, how were you able, to balance all this stuff along with your plane?

Carlos Peralez: 18:54

Well, like I said earlier, I needed the plane to do that because engineering can get hectic. State jobs, you know, can be kind of normal People. Ah, you have an easy job, but not really. Where I was in in construction, it was blowing and going. It was very, very fast-paced, very, very fast-paced, and so those 11 years went by really fast. But it was very stressful on me and my wife knows it, and my family, because I was always at work, never take vacation, never take anything, always at work, never take vacation, never take anything, always at work, work weekends, late nights, everything. So that was difficult but there was always by. Salvation was always going to symphony rehearsal and changing the pace, having a concert. There's nothing like having a concert where you play something and you get some little goosebumps on you because, oh, that piece just moves you so much that keeps you going and refreshes your mind, and you get some little goosebumps on you because, oh, that piece just moves you so much.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 19:49

That keeps you going and refreshes your mind and you can start the next work week a little better. So it's safe to say that symphony helped you, oh yeah, oh most definitely.

Miguel Gutierrez: 19:55

Have you moved around in the symphony? Have you always been in one?

Carlos Peralez: 19:57

place. I started back, like I say in high school I was in the very back of the second violin section, moved up. I say in high school I was in the very back of the second violin section, moved up, then moved back, then went to the middle. I was principal for a while.

Carlos Peralez: 20:11

Joel I think I was your partner for a couple of concerts and then went to the first, then went back to the seconds and now I'm back to the first. So I've been all over the place. The highest I got when I was in college because Dr Seale was really I think he really liked me. I think he put me a second chair next to Bill Behar, bill Haidar, I don't know if you know Bill Bill was the concertmaster Back in the day. Yes, so I was his assistant for those two years that I was here. Of course, kurt was a concertmaster when he started, but then he went to play. He was like third or fourth chair.

Miguel Gutierrez: 20:39

Yeah, he demoted himself. Yes, he did he did. Tell us more about. You know it's funny because you bring him up. Unfortunately he's passed and you know that's someone that Joel and I always wanted to get into the hot seat, like you said a while ago. But you know he passed and I mentioned to Joel how maybe we can talk to some of you that could talk about your experiences with him, you know, as a way of remembering him. So what would you say would be like the most memorable experience you had with Mr Ray?

Carlos Peralez: 21:15

You don't have any water, do you? It just brings back a lot of memories. He was definitely my mentor, best teacher I've ever had in anything. Every time I came back from A&M in college I would look for him. Every time I'd go to his house and he'd come in and Moses and I would always go to his house and he'd be on the computer. Back then he was starting his stocks and bonds thing, but we would just be there for hours until 2, 3 in the morning listening to music. He always had nice equipment. I always liked his speakers that he would hand make. He always had the latest in high fives equipment.

Carlos Peralez: 22:01

So I loved all of his stuff, All his albums. Back then we had albums, right, I would go through his albums, his sheet music, We'd just talk about his. He'd show me all his videos. He always had videos of the high schools, the new up and coming stars, and these are the solos that they're playing now. So, yeah, definitely, he's the first person besides my parents when I came down from college that I would go visit and we just spent hours and hours together and it would go by like nothing.

Miguel Gutierrez: 22:27

Was that the house on Pharr?

Carlos Peralez: 22:30

On Pharr on 495. Yes that's that house.

Miguel Gutierrez: 22:34

Yeah, I got to see that house once and it was actually when he had kicked out some tenants because apparently they had trashed it. And I remember I think I was a freshman, maybe in high school, and we had gone to get some Letterman jackets fitted. And he says, okay, we're going to take a little, like you know, a detour. We're like, oh, okay, and yeah, we go to this house and there's roaches everywhere and the walls are broken down. And he just was saying, yeah, I had some tenants and blah, blah, blah. So I know that was like I think the first house that he bought, right.

Carlos Peralez: 23:06

I think it was yes, yeah. And of course after that he bought another one in McAllen and I would go visit him there too. Even too, you know, even as a married man with kids, my wife would say where you going go see mr rain, why he has so much fun stuff to play with. You know he had the first big screen tv, you know, and everything nice yeah, that's nice he always had violins of course, very expensive violins and I would love to play on them it's funny.

Miguel Gutierrez: 23:28

you mentioned the, the, the effect right, that you would just go to his house and time would stop, it would stop and it would stop, and you were never bored, you were never distracted or anything like that he always had something to talk about. Yes, yes.

Carlos Peralez: 23:44

I enjoyed that very much.

Miguel Gutierrez: 23:46

So what would you say is the most important thing you learned from him?

Carlos Peralez: 23:51

That I learned probably is just the practicing. Like I mentioned, he didn't have time to give his private lessons, but he would once in a while, especially when the All-State would come in or UIL Solos, he would say, hey, carlos, I can give you a lesson tomorrow, 20 minutes, if you come at 7. So I would go at 7, once in a blue moon, and same thing with Moises, and he would devote that time, even though he had so many students and and, and he would always tell me to practice, practice, practice. Never try to play more than what you can. You learn the basics. He's the one that got me all the, the exercises to play with, the, the septic exercises, fiorello, the dance, the Dante, the Masas, kreutzer, they all came from him. And he would tell me make sure you don't pass a certain point without knowing the basics, because, yeah, you can kind of fudge it and do this, but you're not really playing it the way it's supposed to be. So that's probably what I learned is to make sure that you don't play above your means, I guess.

Miguel Gutierrez: 24:58

Nice, nice, sure that you don't play above your means. I guess, nice, nice, he was always, you know, very realistic and, yes, but very supportive at the same time. Yes, he was nice, nice, um man, that almost got me too yeah, he was.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 25:11

He was special. Yeah, I never had him as a teacher, but Miguel would always mention to me about how awesome Kurt was.

Carlos Peralez: 25:21

And you guys probably know him when he was already the latter years, right when he was first young. I mean he was full of energy, full of energy.

Miguel Gutierrez: 25:28

That's what I hear, yeah.

Carlos Peralez: 25:30

His cars always had tennis rackets, golf clubs, tennis shoes, everything. He was active, very, very active and very devoted. I mean he was there early, 7. He wouldn't leave till late. He was there on weekends and summers were just open. I would go there all the time in summers and he was always old. People go play duets, big quartets, whatever. He always had music. He would give us music for the next year that we're going to do. He would play the radio for the albums and we'd play along with the music. So that was his life.

Miguel Gutierrez: 26:05

There were so many boxes. Carlos, did you go to that auction that he had? Well, I didn't go to the estate sale, but when his sister was cleaning out the house, uh, there was just so many boxes, boxes of sheet music. And I'm talking not just his, his dad's also like stuff from back then 50s, 60s. You know original, you know writing, and from his dad notes. I, I think Jeffrey, kept some of it, maybe Wow, but it was just so much, so much. Like you have no idea. He even had repeated sets of pieces, I believe that, where he would just reorder the same thing over and over, probably thinking I need another one or something.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 26:53

It's the first edition. I need second edition. No, no, no.

Miguel Gutierrez: 26:56

It's true he had like three, four editions of the same thing because of a different Boeing or a different whatever. But yeah, that's who he was.

Carlos Peralez: 27:03

And you know, back then when we had a solo, he would give us a solo to play. And it's not like now you have YouTube, you can hear anybody any style. Back then it was only Kurt had the recording, so I'd go to his house and he'd make me a copy on cassette. This is a recording of whoever it was playing this, and that was our one sample that we had. There was not a multitude of violinists that we could hear.

Miguel Gutierrez: 27:30

It was just that Do you have grandchildren?

Carlos Peralez: 27:33

I have two grandchildren, yes.

Miguel Gutierrez: 27:37

A four-year-old and a three-year-old. Would you want them to also pursue it?

Carlos Peralez: 27:41

Oh man, that's a good question. I would like the youngest. I have a boy and a girl. The oldest boy probably not. I think he's more tough. I don't want him in football even, but maybe more basketball, baseball type.

Miguel Gutierrez: 27:58

Have they seen you play he?

Carlos Peralez: 28:00

has not. He knows I always go to concerts. When I go see him and he goes, why are you dressed up like that? I said I went to a concert Really, you play, yeah, but he has not really seen me. I think when he was like two he saw me, but he didn't think much of it.

Miguel Gutierrez: 28:15

Do you do anything else besides play with symphony? Sometimes do you do gigs.

Carlos Peralez: 28:20

I do a lot of well. I used to do a lot of gigs. Now I kind of stay away just because the work is keeping me busy, but I still do funerals when they ask me if I got going tomorrow. If there's a wedding here or there, I'll do it. We did a wedding.

Miguel Gutierrez: 28:34

Did you know? Yeah, we had our last gig together in 2024. That was fun, wasn't it? Yeah, it was fun.

Carlos Peralez: 28:39

I like that I love doing those things. Playing quartets is really nice.

Miguel Gutierrez: 28:45

Yeah, I guess my other question would be you know, after going through the journey of your life with music and engineering, what would probably be the biggest?

Carlos Peralez: 29:00

most difficult thing you faced, I guess just changing with the times, I guess not being so caught up in your old ways, because I am old-fashioned. Of course, when I was younger I thought everybody else was old-fashioned, but the new movement, now they are so far advanced. The guys that work with me now, they are brilliant. And to computers I'm not that computer savvy, I mean I think I know how to get around, but these guys really just blow my mind and my main job now is just to supervise, to conduct meetings and set agendas, things like that. But the meat and potatoes, I don't think I could do that anymore. So it was tough to let that go, I think.

Miguel Gutierrez: 29:42

Oh I see, I see what about musically though.

Carlos Peralez: 29:46

Musically, you know, I have no regrets. I really like playing. I think I've played as much as I could. There's been so many things here in the Valley since I started. But there's been so many things here in the Valley since I started. There was a back in the late 80s. There was a symphonette that they had that I would play in with Mr Buhaydar. That was great. There was an opera company called the Lemonade Opera Company back in the 80s I was in that. There was another opera company I forget the name and there was the one maybe 10, 15 years ago with Alcol Veda, the South Texas Lyric Opera. So there's always been something like that.

Carlos Peralez: 30:18

The three years that I was off, that I was retired from TxDOT, that I was there homeschooling my daughter, that's when I played weddings all the time with Sam you know Sam, I mean he would give me at least two a week so that kept me very busy. So I've been very fortunate to not be a music major, not know much about music per se, but just be a violinist kind of maybe an amateur violinist. But I've gotten to play so much. So there's no regrets musically. Do I wish I went back into music school? I don't have that regret. Thank God I don't have that regret. I'm glad I went into engineering school. That wasn't my first choice, but it was a practical choice and I don't regret it one bit.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 31:06

I was about to ask you what was a bigger passion engineering or music, music without a doubt, music.

Miguel Gutierrez: 31:12

When I was on the phone with you convincing you to do this, I was telling you how this interview would be very inspiring to younger listeners that are torn between should I follow this route of music? You know I'm kind of good at it. Maybe I should give it a shot. But they don't realize that you don't have to study music in order to still be active Right, in order to still be active. There's still other outlets.

Carlos Peralez: 31:36

You had your gigs in Reynosa and being in the symphony and you could still do your job, for practicality reasons or whatever, and you could still be successful, Exactly yeah, If you have a passion for this, especially if you're in high school, ready to go to college and you're making that decision of your life, you don't need to give it up. You don't need to be a music major if that's not your calling. But you know, for God's sakes, don't give it up, because that I think you will regret. If I had not played the violin since I graduated high school, I think I would regret that a lot.

Miguel Gutierrez: 32:11

There you go. That's the segue to our next question. Actually, what advice would you give to young listeners?

Carlos Peralez: 32:18

but uh, yeah, you know if you like, and I'm I've talked from a violin perspective, but it doesn't matter what instrument you play, whether it's. I love accordion, I love guitar and and there's so many people that have the talent for that and I admire them, because I can't do that. I tried the accordion back when I was young and I would look in front of a mirror and I couldn't get out a single note. So if you can play the accordion or the guitar, you have an ear for it. One thing I love to hear is the beginning of the American Idols.

Carlos Peralez: 32:50

I love the first couple of episodes, because that's when you hear raw talent, people that don't know that they're good, people that don't know that they're good, people that don't know anything about music, but they're just naturally gifted. If you're one of those, or even if you're not one of those, you just have a passion for it and you can practice as much as you want and you can become pretty good. I think I'm living proof of that. I wasn't a prodigy, I wasn't a genius. I practice a lot. I mean a lot, a lot, a lot. I mean a lot, a lot, a lot, and you can fulfill your own needs just by practicing and being diligent in that and just keep at your passion, whatever instrument it is.

Carlos Peralez: 33:28

There's so many beautiful instruments out there. The piano is so beautiful. The violin is very difficult, as you know. It takes years to even get a good note out, so some people are discouraged with that. But once you get past that and you're in high school and you can hold a decent tune, then I mean, just keep on going, don't give up. Just keep on going, keep on practicing and challenging yourself and to be the best performer you can, whether it's just for you in front of a mirror or whether it's in front of an auditorium with a bunch of people listening to you.

Miguel Gutierrez: 33:58

Carlos, where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?

Carlos Peralez: 34:05

Wow, I've been thinking about how long am I going to stay in the symphony. I want to go another eight years, I think. I'm trying to think how many that will give me. It will definitely give me over 50, 53. 53, 54, something like that, unless something happens to where I can? I mean, so far I have my senses, my hands are still going, my coordination is still there. You never know. If something happens, god forbid well then I may have to reconsider, but I'll stay there as long as they'll have me, you know, and hopefully it'll be at least eight more years to complete your 50th. Then no more than that.

Joel Lee Ozuna: 34:45

Oh, man can't do the math right now, but it's safe to say that you're going to retire from engineering again before you retire from the symphony.

Carlos Peralez: 34:50

Yes, oh yeah, no, definitely, definitely symphony.

Miguel Gutierrez: 34:52

I'll go until I just can't play anymore, well, carlos Carlos, I'm glad that you did this, and thanks for being here and sharing your experience, and I'm pretty sure that many listeners will feel inspired by your words.

Carlos Peralez: 35:04

Well, I hope so. Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure. Thank you, Carlos. Thank you, Carlos.