Valeria Martinez, a current Music Education and Trombone student at the School of Music, has been invited to join the second-ever class of Hispanic Heritage Awards Orchestral Fellows this September. 

Martinez will join the American Pops Orchestra (APO) onstage at the historic Warner Theater in Washington, DC, on September 4 for the nationally televised 2025 Hispanic Heritage Awards on PBS. Martinez is one of six musicians selected as an Orchestral Fellow this year. 

“I am so grateful for and elated about this opportunity,” Martinez said. 

Based in Washington, DC, American Pops Orchestra was founded in 2015 with a mission to build community through music, blending popular and classical genres in innovative ways to engage new and diverse audiences.

Last year, APO’s Music Director Luke Frazier pitched the idea to the head of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation to create a small ensemble of Hispanic Heritage Awards Orchestral Fellows to perform alongside members of APO during the awards ceremony, which was televised nationally on PBS in front of a live audience at the Kennedy Center.

Participation in the Hispanic Heritage Awards Orchestral Fellows program “is a unique and meaningful opportunity for students to gain professional orchestral experience, perform on a nationally televised stage, and be part of a prestigious cultural celebration honoring Latin American heritage,” according to organizers. 

Rehearsals will be held with APO on September 2 and September 3, with the performance the night of September 4.

The Hispanic Heritage Awards were established by The White House in 1988 to commemorate the creation of Hispanic Heritage Month in America and are recognized as “America’s Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration” and supported by 40 national, Latino-serving institutions. The awards recognize Latino accomplishment, vision, and cultural pride.