enerida Mendoza [she/they]

Hi! My name is Enerida Mendoza and I am a violinist and violist. I was born in San Jose, CA and I moved to Yakima when I was five years old. I started playing violin back in 2012 in 5th grade, I still remember when Stephanie Hsu visited my orchestra class at Barge-Lincoln, I was immediately intrigued and I decided to join. I would have never imagined that 10 years later I would be teaching alongside Stephanie. I learned to play viola at YAMA as well and I love the sound of the deep strings and how chill viola players are! I also played cello and bass for fun!  

I stayed with YAMA throughout middle and high school until I decided to attend Central Washington University and pursue a Music degree. My favorite aspect of YAMA was the community I had with all my friends and as well with my sisters who played music as well. I made some of my best friends through music and met so many amazing musicians.

YAMA also made music accessible to me, learning violin is expensive and YAMA has given me a lot of resources, money was never an issue when it came to music, we always had support from YAMA. 

Now as I become an adult, I have the ability to give back to my community. I love to teach and I have amazing students that make me smile :)! I hope to share my passion for music to my community here in Yakima.

Music has always been my escape when words couldn't describe my emotions but music was able to do that for me.