Dr. José R. Torres-Ramos

Dr. José R. Torres-Ramos
Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology and Mariachi
Director, Mariachi San José
408-924-4333
jose.r.torres@sjsu.edu
MUS 201

Dr. José R. Torres-Ramos is an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology and Mariachi in the School of Music at San José State University. His research investigates how sound and embodiment in musical performance reveal a shared lived experience that ritualizes cultural imaginaries linking with socialized notions of race, ethnicity, and gender. His work explores Latin American milieus with a specialized focus on Mexico’s modern mariachi, examining how its performative musicality reflexively structures hetero-nationalist culture. The recipient of numerous research fellowships, including a prestigious Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Award, Dr. Torres has conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork throughout the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. His scholarship has been presented and published in the United States and Mexico, including invited guest lectures at the Universidad Autónoma Nacional de México (UNAM) and the Universidad de Guadalajara. His most recent published writing appears in the forthcoming edited volumes, Insurgent Music Theory: Terminology and Critical Methods for Antiracist Music Studies (University of Michigan Press); and Men and Masculinities: A Southern Global Perspective (Vernon Press). Dr. Torres is a member of the Advisory Council for the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) and is President of the SEM Southern Plains Chapter.

As mariachi scholar/performer, Dr. Torres has artistically collaborated with many internationally renowned professional ensembles, including Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, Los Camperos de Nati Cano, and Sol de México de José L. Hernández. He has also accompanied in live concerts, many Latin American solo artists, including Lucha Villa, Aida Cuevas, Alberto Ángel “El Cuervo,” and Vikki Carr, as well as US country western star George Strait. A former certified public-school teacher, Dr. Torres directed award-winning student ensembles in school districts and universities throughout Texas. He has composed and arranged music for scholastic, collegiate, and professional ensembles as well as producing numerous commercial studio recordings. Currently, Dr. Torres is the Director/Conductor for Mariachi San José, an official university ensemble in the School of Music at SJSU.

Education

• PhD Ethnomusicology – University of North Texas
• MA History – University of Texas San Antonio
• BA History and Music – University of Texas San Antonio