Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Valeria Mason. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Valeria thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.
After finishing college, I started working as a Violin teacher and the Administrator of Arts at Colegio Monteverde, a private school in Mexico City. I was contacted by Gabriel Pliego, the director of a partnered school, who asked if I might be able to create a similar program in this new institution. As the school year was coming to a close, we were to present a concert at a very prestigious venue. At our first dress rehearsal that morning one of my students had the misfortune of dropping her violin to the floor. The bridge of the tiny violin broke and my student was absolutely devastated. I knew I had to make something happen so I drove to the other side of the city, to my old university, to look for a luthier who could hopefully fix the bridge. I arrived at the campus where I had once studied, looking for the luthier on site, when I bumped into an old professor I had known from the time I was a student. He could see my concern, asked me what was wrong but smiled as I explained the predicament. I ran to the luthier as fast as I could but to my dismay, he said it would take two weeks to fix the bridge. Obviously, this wouldn’t work in my time frame. When I walked out, crestfallen, there was the professor waiting for me offering me another option. He mentioned one of his daughters had played the violin when she was younger and he was pretty sure they might still have it. We headed to his house, heart in my throat, praying he might have the little violin that would save our concert and allow my student to perform that night. As magic would happen, there it was, almost as if it was waiting all these years to make another young musician and her orchestra’s dreams come true.
Two months later, I got a call from the university. They wanted to offer me a position as a violin teacher there. I was overjoyed.
I started working at my old and dear school of music right away. A few months passed, when I got another surprising call. They had hired a new director, Julio Vigueras, the same kind and caring professor who had saved me that fateful evening when I was desperate to find a new bridge for my violin student. He was now going to be my boss.
When I asked him why did you recommend me? He said: “This school needs passionate teachers that would drive miles to do anything to help their students perform at a concert. People who truly love to teach and make a difference for a new generation of musicians”. He also didn’t hold back in telling me some truths. “There’s people who don’t want you here, they feel threatened … but as long as I’m sitting in this chair no one will fire you”. After one year went by, he promoted me to serve as the new string coordinator of the school. I ended up working four years as a teacher and coordinator.
He believed in me as a teacher, organizer and musician. He was proud to have me as part of his team and I am forever grateful to him for helping me build my confidence and reminding me of the passion I have for every person who chooses music in their lives to this very day.
Valeria, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Well, firstly, I would like to say thank you for this amazing platform that you have created. One that allows artists and creators to share their truths, stories in a raw and beautiful way that many sites aren’t interested in doing.
It’s funny. I think my bio on my socials hasn’t changed since I created and started using them. It says “Proud mama and wife who loves to make music.”
That quote is something that will forever hold true for me. But as I look back on this imperfectly perfect journey that I continue to learn from every day, the pride in and of my musical adventure all these years is something I have learned to hold dear.
I am a singer/ songwriter and violinist from Mexico City who now resides mainly in Los Angeles, CA.
I believe that every aspect of my music shows the gratitude I have for my roots. Not just where I came from but the who and how that guided me along the way. Since I was a little girl, I always loved to dance and sing and vibe to whatever genre was put in front of me. The more I could experience the better. So naturally, when my mother, a phenomenal piano teacher who influenced me in more ways than she knows, took me to see my first musical – 42nd Street at the Teatro Insurgentes. I was hypnotized. That was the moment I knew I had found my passion.
I was a pretty busy kid and got busier by the minute as that dream kept becoming clearer. I mean, I took ballet, tap, jazz, acting, and singing lessons, as well as violin, piano, choir and orchestra. My life early on, was devoted and divided between the music school, the ballet school and the tap and jazz studio. But as time passed, I would start discovering other styles of music and dance. My world was widening. It wasn’t only classical music, ballet and broadway musicals, it was also Cuban music, Rock, Jazz, Tango, Salsa, You name it.
But at 18, one of my earlier dreams came true, when I was cast in Fame the Musical, and at the very theater where I had first fallen in love with musicals, El Teatro Insurgentes.
As I said before, I think I’m just an adventurous soul. So after a year in Fama, that itch started to subside and I found myself looking for new dreams to experience. My husband jokes with me all the time that it’s hard for me to not always be learning something.
So I went to college to study French translation and then worked as a violin teacher and String Coordinator at the very music school where I grew up. Suddenly four years had gone by and as fate would have it, this is where my life took a 180 degree turn. I fell in love with an American and I moved to the US.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I’d like to think there are many at this stage of my life but if I may, there are two that stick out the most.
In 2016, I got really lucky, my physical album Un nuevo inicio ended up in the hands of John Bryan, head of IMCG Productions who was to produce a concert in celebration of 50 years of Brazil ’66 with Sergio Mendes. He thought I would be the perfect fit to open up for the legendary Mendes at a beautiful 1400 seat theater. Obviously I never hesitated. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. I excitedly started preparing the set with my band. At that time, I was also juggling a baby and a 3 year old… but as happens, with small children, one of my daughters got sick and passed it on to me. I lost my voice completely and thought I was going to have to cancel. John insisted: “I’m sure you will be able to sing.”
I recollect calling my mother in Mexico, crying, telling her how devastated I was. The best opportunity as an artist I’ve ever gotten and I didn’t have a voice to sing with. I could only find refuge in breastfeeding my 6 month-old baby, a small action, but one that would ultimately end up giving me peace and purpose .
The day before the show, my band came to rehearse at my house. When I greeted them at the door, they could barely hear me. They were nervous, they didn’t know if there would be a show at all.
But I remember the moment I decided- I had to surrender and trust.
Playing the first song we rehearsed, I was probably able to sing 20% of the notes, but the more I let my body vibrate with each note, my voice started to open up. By the third song, I was able to sing 80% and by the last song, I felt myself singing fully again. This was going to happen. I have always been as careful as possible with my voice so I took every precaution. I barely talked, saving every little sound I had just for singing.
On the day of the show, I checked into the hotel right next to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center with my family. I fed my baby, I kissed my older daughter and my husband and I went to the sound check. Taking a breath at a time, I trusted that I knew my instrument, my music and I could pull this off.
The show went better than I ever imagined. The amazing audience that came to see Sergio Mendes welcomed me with so much warmth. It was an unforgettable moment, a very humbling experience.
But resilience truly flourished when I was diagnosed with stage 3 Breast Cancer in 2022. No one can prepare you for that. You have two options: trust you can fight or give up. I never doubted I could heal and it was evident that in order to win the battle I needed to stay positive and take one day at a time. Of course, there were many dark days, ones when I felt I would never be able to create again. To write music, sing and experience that passion I so love in sharing the incredible connection you get while performing … .but today I can tell you, my biggest strength is gratitude. The more grateful I was for what I had every day, the less I would focus on the pain and weakness I experienced in my body. My daughters and husband inspired and reminded me everyday of who I am, and I am not Cancer. I am someone who lives through love and music.
Today, two years after I started fighting this disease, I am back promoting new music, planning new shows and producing new songs that inevitably reflect my journey.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Probably the best lesson I’ve gained throughout my creative journey is learning to tear down the mental walls I’ve had before I finally dared to write my own music. I reflected early on, that I spent most of my life in a music school as an instrument player (the violin) and later on as a teacher. When I was out of that academic context I faced the true challenge: let myself be the creator. I thought I wouldn’t be able to be the writer, the composer of the music I perform, only because I didn’t own a diploma that could back that skill up. Once I accepted my own creativity, I was able to compose songs, not just sing them. It sounds simple but the truth is that in order to do something you need to believe it first. So many of us prohibit ourselves from doing something because we are afraid of failing, we are insecure of our own capacities. Everything in this life is taking risks and the first one is to dare to do something even if you fail. That’s how I started writing music. Knowing I didn’t have the academic preparation to do so but doing it anyway. Do I wish I would have taken this risk earlier when I was younger? Sure I did. But I needed to find my own voice, my own style and that takes time. Everybody has their own timing in discovering what fulfills you truly. You can’t compare yourself to anybody. You are you, unique. Once I stopped trying to sound like this artist or this other one, I found myself, my own sound.
Nowadays, it’s more possible to create a music career on your own as an indie artist. There are tons of resources out there to market, distribute, advertise and establish a fan base through social media. We just need to be cautious not to fall into the scams of music marketing.
However, It does require splitting almost as much time in music production as it does to sit in front of your computer to market your product. Recently, I heard the best advice of all, invest as much time and money to market and advertise your song as you do to create it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.valeriamason.com
- Instagram: @valemason
- Facebook: Valeria Mason Music
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-mason-6036b313?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Twitter: @ValeriaMasonM
- Youtube: @ValeriaMasonmusic
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/1QwAFvFMeathyb8Y8
Image Credits
Trevor Traynor
Cocün Photography (Isabel Cocun)
Ivan Copelli
Dash Mihok