Pedro Ayala (June 29, 1911 – December 1, 1990), called "El Monarca del Acordeón", was a Mexican

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

ist and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

from

General Terán, Nuevo León General Terán is a municipality located in Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tama ...

, Mexico. Pedro Ayala was a pioneer of

conjunto The term ''conjunto'' (, literally 'group', 'ensemble') refers to several types of small musical ensembles present in different Latin American musical traditions, mainly in Mexico and Cuba. While Mexican conjuntos play styles such as '' norteño' ...

music with his distinctive

playing, receiving a

National Heritage Fellowship The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's h ...

from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

for his contribution to

and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

Early life

Ayala, the son of musician Emilio Ayala, began playing the

when he was 5 years old. His family migrated to the United States when Pedro was about eight years old, settling in the town of

Donna, Texas Donna is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. Donna is part of the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission and Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan areas. The population was 16,797 at the 2020 census. History Donna is in southeastern Hidalgo Count ...

in the

Rio Grande Valley Lower Rio Grande Valley (), often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) of South Texas, is a region located in the southernmost part of Texas, along the northern bank of the Rio Grande. It is also known locally as the Valley or the 956 (the ...

and working as farm laborers. At age ten, he began to accompany his father on gigs for local dances, playing the tambora (drum). By age fourteen, Pedro had learned the two-row button

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and was playing with one of his favorite accordionists, Chon Alaniz.

Career

Ayala began his professional career in 1935, and decided to concentrate on the accordion as his primary instrument. He played music while continuing to work on farms. In the 1940s and 1950s, Ayala was a well-respected performer among working-class Mexican Americans living in Texas, earning the title "El Monarca del Acordeon" (Monarch of the Accordion). In 1947, he recorded with a new record label named Mira in

McAllen, Texas McAllen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Hidalgo County. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexican border. The city limits extend south to the Rio Grande, acros ...

. Mira later became Falcon Records, a very successful

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

recording company. Over the course of his career, Ayala made 10

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

and numerous 78- and 45-rpm recordings that included

polkas Polka is a dance style and musical genre, genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Culture of the Czech Republic, Czech and Central Europe, Central E ...

, chotes, valses, and redovas. Throughout his career, Ayala remained true to the stylistic core of conjunto music, but also added innovations such as incorporating the toloche (stand-up bass) to the ensemble. He was also regarded as a songwriter with a distinctive style of composition. In 1957 his sons Ramon Ayala, and Pedro Ayala Jr. (Quito) joined his group Pedro Ayala y su Conjunto. By 1963 Pedro Ayala's youngest son Emilio joined the group renaming the group to Pedro Ayala El Monarca del Acordeón y Los Hermanos Ayala touring the entire

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for the next several years.

Personal life

Pedro Ayala married Esperanza Benitez in 1935. They had a total of nine children three of which also played instruments. Hector Ayala, Elia Ayala, Pedro Ayala Jr., Anita Ayala, Ramon Ayala, Pedro Ayala Jr. (Quito), Olga Ayala, Magdalena Ayala, and Emilio Ayala.

Awards and honors

*Ayala was a recipient of a 1988

awarded by the

, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. *He was given a Texas flag that flew over the

state capitol A capitol, or seat of government, is the building or complex of buildings from which a government such as that of a U.S. state, the District of Columbia, or the organized territories of the United States, exercises its authority. Although m ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, ...

. *Pedro Ayala y Los Hermanos Ayala were invited to perform at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. The entire event was documented on video. *Ayala was inducted into the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame in 2004.

References

External links