Elmo
López (Photo courtesy of the Texas Bandmasters
Association)
(Laredo)—In the 1962 movie musical “The Music Man,” a stranger comes to town and inadvertently enriches all with a love for music. In Laredo, Elmo López is no such stranger, but the love for music he’s helped to foster here has been communitywide and lifelong.
His passion for music and tireless dedication to its study and celebration have prompted Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) to award him an honorary doctorate at its May commencement exercises.
“He has been an inspiration to us all and his commitment is the rule by which we should all be measured,” said TAMIU President Ray Keck.
“From the classroom to the boardroom, from the practice room to the half-time show field, he’s been present for every facet of music education in our community. He is an institution and a legend, fueled by endless energy and unbeatable resolve,” Keck said.
Lopez approached the university to offer his services and served as the university’s first band director—as an unpaid volunteer—from 1997 to 2003. He then worked with other Laredo-area high school band directors and contributors to get the band’s first instruments, many of which are still in use.
When not finding instruments, he found students, also volunteering as
a recruiter. His enthusiasm attracted many students to the program.
“His sacrifice then has helped us to create one of our most popular performance
programs today,” Keck said.
The soft-spoken López is a 1953 and 1957 graduate of the University of Texas and was among the first young Texan conductors to embrace the richness of Hispanic music. His interpretations of the paso doble (“two-step”), a smooth ballroom dance based on Spanish bullfight music, remain highly sought after.
In 1963, James Clifton Williams composed the legendary Laredo Paso Doble, dedicated to its conductor, López, and premiered it at dual concerts in Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The haunting melody so impressed leaders in Texas and Mexico alike that the composer and conductor were both recognized by the State Legislature and the government of Mexico.
López has conducted bands in the United States and Mexico at the high school, college, university and military levels, with appearances throughout the United States and at Mexico’s Palacio de Bellas Artes and the Auditorio Nacional de Cultura in Mexico City.
López would go on to lead musical exchange programs between the U.S. and Mexico and organize the All-American Youth Honor Band at the University of Florida, which toured principal cities in South America.
He has long served his alma mater through the U.T. Dads’ Association Board of Directors, which elected him president in 1986. In 1993 he was named a distinguished member and honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Laredo U.T. Ex-Students Association.
Now retired, he’s happiest when he’s spending sunny or cloudy days at his ranch with wife Consuelo and his five children and six grandchildren.
Ever “The Music Man,” he is still drawn by the music, and a familiar sight at all TAMIU student performances. On those occasions, it’s not unusual to see his right hand quietly tapping out a rhythm or conducting a private duet.