4 days ago
Her first year teaching, she met a star student. Fifteen years later, music is still connecting them.
This article is sponsored by LG.
"Music is the language we all share and can have no issue with," 23-year-old Gianee "Gia" Martinez says. She is a graduate of the Institute of American Musical Theater in New York City and is currently pursuing a career in musical theater.
Martinez started learning music 15 years ago. It was 2009 and she was in third grade at PS 48 in the Bronx.
Budget cuts meant she didn't have the opportunity to have music class her first two years at the school. But to her surprise, a new music teacher was hired ahead of her third year.
"I was so excited because I've always loved music. My parents are musical people, so I was so excited to [be] either learning an instrument, or just singing, or learning how to read music even," Martinez told CBS News.
While it was her parents who sparked a passion for music, it was Melissa Salguero who taught her music.
Salguero told CBS News she immediately noticed Martinez, who she said was constantly singing at school. "I saw the talent that she had, she just needed a stage. She just needed an opportunity," she said. "I firmly believe talent is everywhere but opportunity is not."
It wasn't always easy to give the students that opportunity. When Salguero got to PS 48, there was no music program. She had to create it from the ground up — finding funding, instruments and building the curriculum.
If it wasn't for her, Martinez might not have been able to learn her passion. She went from playing recorder in class to joining the school band and playing clarinet. Salguero says she made her the section leader because of how she would bring people together to practice their instruments.
When asked if perhaps Martinez became a good leader in band because Salguero was a good leader to her, the teacher teared up.
"I actually never thought about that," she said, taking a moment to collect herself. "When I'm teaching, I'm not thinking about that. I'm just thinking about sharing my love of music with them. It's not oftentimes I'm thinking about not only the impact on my students' lives, but how they move and operate in the world. And the countless lives that she's changed just doing what she loves."
That little leader, the self-procclaimed "teacher's pet," the one who Salguero still thinks of 15 years after meeting, is now 23 years old. But the music that connected them all those years ago has kept them in each other's lives.
Martinez has starred as Maria in the Open Hydrant Theatre Company's production of "West Side Story," and as Vanessa in the company's performance of "In the Heights." And now, she's auditioning for Broadway shows.
Salguero, who has watched Martinez perform years after she left PS 48, has always been a fan of her former student. But this teacher is a star too. In 2018, she was honored with the Grammy Music Educator Award.
"When I was nominated, I was like, 'What? Is this a joke?'" Salguero said. She was nominated four times before she won, filling out her Grammy application each year.
"And year after year, I just grew [by] thinking and filling out the application. It was an incredible development because I was reflecting on what I was doing and how I could be better," she said. "I didn't really think about 'I'm doing this to win a Grammy,' I was just trying to be a better teacher."
Martinez excitedly watched Salguero receive her Grammy — just like her former teacher had excitedly watched her perform over the years.
To thank her for her unwavering support over 15 years, Martinez had a surprise for Salguero.
She created a personal song for her using LG's "Radio Optimism" tool, designed to help strengthen meaningful human connections and spread optimism through music. All you do is pick your mood and genre and type in who and what you want your song to be about.
"The message that I put for the prompt, I put something along the words of 'I wouldn't have asked for anyone else to teach me music at such a young age,'" Martinez said. "She's amazing and without her, I honestly don't know what my musical career would look like right now."
Radio Optimism is not only a song generator, but a radio station that plays all the custom songs that get created. So if someone decides to publish their song, they have a chance to hear it played on the station.
Martinez presented the song to Salguero, who had no idea when we reunited them that a song in her honor would be made.
At first she was speechless, then as the jazz number played, her face lit up. "Oh Miss Salguero, you're a shining star, guiding me through melodies near and far," the generated song lyrics went.
"With your notes I learn to fly, with every song I reach the sky," the song continues. "At a young age you lit the flame, now music and I are one in the same. Your passion sparked a fire. In my heart you took me higher."
By the end of the tune, the two were shimmying and shaking jazz hands.
"I figured you would appreciate the jazz," Martinez said.
"Oh yeah, the jazz hands," Salguero said. "Oh my God, that was so good."
No matter how many years it's been, there's never been a gap in their relationship. Because music is the bridge.
"Music is the language we all share and can have no issue with," Martinez said.
"That's so beautiful," Salguero replied.
When people come together to sing or play music, it creates a special bond. "Everybody has so many things running around in your mind… and then for one moment, you're all there together, you're all singing together, you're all present," Salguero said. "That is something that is so special to music in terms of connecting people, that I've never felt that connection any other place."
