How One Man Taught His Students About Music And About Texas

San Antonio teacher Oscar Castro recorded, “Bluebonnet Sonnet” with his class. Then they took the song to the state capitol.

By Kristen CabreraApril 23, 2020 2:46 pm,

Nothing is more Texan than writing a song about Texas. 

When Oscar Philip Castro worked as a music teacher, he wrote one about the state flower called “The Bluebonnet Sonnet of Texas” for his music class in San Antonio. He recalls arranging most of the song in his truck before actually recording in his classroom with his students behind glass – just like the “superstars.”

“It took a while,” said Castro. “I could tell sometimes they’d get a little tired, but then we’d take breaks and it was always a whole lot of fun.”

Castro said that the song is “all Texas” with a mix that emphasizes South Texas sounds. At one point, he and his students played the song at the state capitol. They hoped the Legislature would “add the song to the legacy of the bluebonnet.”

“There’s a lot of history here and I just want to be a part of that history,” Castro said. “There’s not many songs on the radio about our state flower.”

Though the Legislature didn’t adopt his song, Castro said what mattered most was that his students learned and had fun. He said he would love two “icons of Texas,” George Strait and Willie Nelson, to sing a duet version of his song. But he would love it even more if every child in Texas learned it as well.

“That’s a dream I would love to see come true.”

Written by Samantha Carrizal

 

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