About
Soto Academy of Music offers music classes where students sing, listen to music, and work on music skills that include rhythmic and tonal music patterns and notation reading. Concepts are reinforced through classroom activities using instruments, and students can prepare for future music study on instruments, in choirs, or through applied music lessons. The academy also offers music therapy programs, musical theatre programs, access to a sound recording studio, community music classes, after school music community programs, and hosts flamenco and classical guitar concerts, along with community performances.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
Soto Academy of Music is under the direction of Gilberto D. Soto, Ph.D., owner and director, who is a Professor of Music Education/Guitar at Texas A&M International University, where he teaches early childhood, elementary, and secondary bilingual music education courses, supervises the guitar and bass studios, and directs the TAMIU Guitar Ensemble. Dr. Soto is a National Music Author for Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and Hal Leonard Music Corporation, author of “Fiesta de Canciones” (Primary and Intermediate Levels) and “Music of our World: Mexico,” co-author of “Multilevel Strategies for English Language Learners,” the national music series “Spotlight on Music,” the national reading series “Treasures/Tesoros” and “Wonders/Maravillas,” and a song arranger for the National Mathematics Series and the DLM Early Childhood Express, all published by McGraw-Hill Education. He holds a BA in Education from Universidad Autonoma del Noreste, a BA in Music from Abilene Christian University, and an M.M. and Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi, and has received many awards for his work in bilingual music education, higher education teaching, and guitar performance.
The academy received its approval as a Limited Liability Corporation in the summer of 2006. In its first two years, it became the fastest growing and largest music academy in Laredo, Texas, growing from five to nineteen specialized music instructors plus four staff assistants, and from 34 students in the 2006 summer session to 298 students in the 2008 fall session. During this period, the academy planned to double its square footage by the end of 2008 and to offer specialized applied music lessons, music therapy and musical theatre programs, and a sound recording studio.
Soto Academy of Music serves as a comprehensive in-training site for graduates and senior music major students from Texas A&M International University, who use the academy as a teaching lab in preparation for their education careers. The academy states a mission to increase awareness of the music potential and talent present in every child at birth, to support the growth of these talents, and to base its music philosophy on cognitive, aesthetic, and psychomotor music experiences for a culturally diverse population. Its approach combines mastery of an instrument with music pedagogy strategies, and it states that through the study of music, children’s character and ability to learn are enriched and that children are encouraged to share their musical and human talents with their families and communities.
In community involvement, Soto Academy of Music focuses on serving the music education needs of the city and surrounding areas. The academy has made financial donations to private educational institutions such as Mary Help of Christian, United Day School, Blessed Sacrament School, and Lady of Guadalupe School. It offers free community performances every semester, community music classes at schools with predominantly low income families such as Perez Elementary School, and visits and performances at elderly homes, Sacred Heart Orphanage, hospitals, and community centers. In the past, the academy has hosted free after school music community programs in colonia areas, specifically in Rio Bravo and El Cenizo.
Last updated July 23, 2026.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
Soto Academy of Music is under the direction of Gilberto D. Soto, Ph.D., owner and director, who is a Professor of Music Education/Guitar at Texas A&M International University, where he teaches early childhood, elementary, and secondary bilingual music education courses, supervises the guitar and bass studios, and directs the TAMIU Guitar Ensemble. Dr. Soto is a National Music Author for Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and Hal Leonard Music Corporation, author of “Fiesta de Canciones” (Primary and Intermediate Levels) and “Music of our World: Mexico,” co-author of “Multilevel Strategies for English Language Learners,” the national music series “Spotlight on Music,” the national reading series “Treasures/Tesoros” and “Wonders/Maravillas,” and a song arranger for the National Mathematics Series and the DLM Early Childhood Express, all published by McGraw-Hill Education. He holds a BA in Education from Universidad Autonoma del Noreste, a BA in Music from Abilene Christian University, and an M.M. and Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi, and has received many awards for his work in bilingual music education, higher education teaching, and guitar performance.
The academy received its approval as a Limited Liability Corporation in the summer of 2006. In its first two years, it became the fastest growing and largest music academy in Laredo, Texas, growing from five to nineteen specialized music instructors plus four staff assistants, and from 34 students in the 2006 summer session to 298 students in the 2008 fall session. During this period, the academy planned to double its square footage by the end of 2008 and to offer specialized applied music lessons, music therapy and musical theatre programs, and a sound recording studio.
Soto Academy of Music serves as a comprehensive in-training site for graduates and senior music major students from Texas A&M International University, who use the academy as a teaching lab in preparation for their education careers. The academy states a mission to increase awareness of the music potential and talent present in every child at birth, to support the growth of these talents, and to base its music philosophy on cognitive, aesthetic, and psychomotor music experiences for a culturally diverse population. Its approach combines mastery of an instrument with music pedagogy strategies, and it states that through the study of music, children’s character and ability to learn are enriched and that children are encouraged to share their musical and human talents with their families and communities.
In community involvement, Soto Academy of Music focuses on serving the music education needs of the city and surrounding areas. The academy has made financial donations to private educational institutions such as Mary Help of Christian, United Day School, Blessed Sacrament School, and Lady of Guadalupe School. It offers free community performances every semester, community music classes at schools with predominantly low income families such as Perez Elementary School, and visits and performances at elderly homes, Sacred Heart Orphanage, hospitals, and community centers. In the past, the academy has hosted free after school music community programs in colonia areas, specifically in Rio Bravo and El Cenizo.
Last updated July 23, 2026.
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