José Luis Orozco

Personal life

José-Luis Orozco was born in Mexico City. He is the second of eleven children born to Fernando Orozco and Susana Ramos. His father played the violin and his mother loved to sing. He grew fond of music at a young age, learning many songs from his paternal grandmother. At age 8, José-Luis became a member of the Mexico City Boy's Choir, and traveled the world visiting 32 countries in Europe, the Caribbean, Central and South America. It was from his tour around the world that he gained the cultural knowledge he now shares with children through his books and recordings.

At age 19, José-Luis moved to California. He went to college and earned his Bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master's degree in Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco.

José-Luis Orozco is the father of four and grandfather to two children. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Career

At age 8, José-Luis became a member of the Mexico City Boy's Choir, and traveled the world visiting 32 countries in Europe, the Caribbean, Central and South America. It was from his tour around the world that he gained the cultural knowledge he now shares with children through his books and recordings.

José-Luis Orozco first started performing music for children in 1970. From the beginning of his career, Orozco included bilingual songs in his repertoire, even though many of the children in his audiences did not speak Spanish.

In 1971, Orozco released the first of 13 volumes for children, Lirica Infantil: Latin American Children's Music, on the Bilingual Media Productions label. The album featured classic songs from Mexican, Central, and South American culture, including Guantanamera and Los Pollitos.

During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Orozco kept up a busy touring schedule, often giving his support to the bilingual education movement in the United States. The Association of Mexican American Educators honored him in 1995.

In 1990, he received the Leadership Award from the California Association for Bilingual Education. In 1994, he produced a bilingual songbook, De Colores, which won an American Library Association Notable Award and the American Children's Book Award, Commended List. He went on to write two other award winning publications, Diez Deditos — Ten Little Fingers (Dutton 1997), and Fiestas (Dutton 2002). CDs of De Colores, Diez Deditos and Fiestas, present a bilingual collection of songs, rhymes, tongue twisters, lullabies, games and holiday celebrations gathered from Spanish-speaking countries.

In 2003, José-Luis released a video and DVD entitled Cantamos y Aprendemos con José-Luis Orozco — Singing and Learning with José-Luis Orozco, filled with live action, animation, and Latino flavor that motivates children to learn about the Spanish language and the rich tradition of Latin American children's music.

In 2005, Orozco wrote Rin, Rin, Rin...Do, Re, Mi, a lyrical bilingual children's book illustrated by Caldecott Medal winner, David Díaz. This publication shows how everyday family activities such as cooking, singing, reading and storytelling foster essential early literacy skills such as letter recognition and language development. Rin, Rin, Rin...Do, Re, Mi is the first book in a series set for publication and distribution by Scholastic's Latino initiative Lee y Serás (Read and You Will Be), which was created to improve the reading and literacy development of Latino children.

In 2003 and again in 2005, José-Luis Orozco was invited to participate in the National Book Festival organized by the Library of Congress and hosted by First Lady, Laura Bush. During the festivities in 2003, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. honored Mr. Orozco.

José-Luis Orozco continues to perform for children throughout the country and world at concert halls, libraries, bookstores and schools.

He also did several voice work, such as Rico in the Mexican dub of the Madagascar film series (and occasionally the TV Show), and in The Ren and Stimpy Show as the dub voice of Stimpy.

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