18th annual "Conjunto of the Year" Award Ceremony in Mercedes

The late Gilberto Garcia of Los Dos Gilbertos (Edinburg)

On Sunday night, the South Texas Conjunto Association (STCA) will be hosting their 18th annual "Conjunto of the Year" award ceremony at the KC Hall in Mercedes, TX. The annual Rio Grande Valley extravaganza honors the very best in conjunto music year after year.

This year's ceremony is dedicated to the memory of the late Gilberto Garcia, of the Edinburg conjunto Los Dos Gilbertos. He passed away on September 21, 2015.

"Gilberto Garcia was an icon in conjunto music as a member of the Los Dos Gilbertos," said Lupe Saenz, STCA president.
A special painting of Gilberto Garcia by local artist Roel Flores will be presented to the Garcia family at the beginning of the evening.

"He was one of the most consisted conjunto musicians that kept the genre going strong even in the face of (conjunto music) disappearing during the strong presence of Tejano music in the 1980's and 90's, when radio stations were making the switch to the Tejano genre."

Los Dos Gilbertos were crowned the "Conjunto of the Year" in the year 2000.

How are the winners chosen? Saenz explained the process to me.

"Early in the year, we start to make inquiries to the public about who should be the next conjunto of the year. Then, we start to follow and watch those conjuntos that are making an impact and are having a strong year. We, then ask a 10 member committee from Houston, San Antonio, Laredo, Austin, and the RGV to make nominations based on this information. We also get input from record companies around the state and suggestions from radio personalities. We then make a ballot and let the people decide who wins in each category."

Different categories also honor the top album, single, accordionist, vocalists, bajo-sexto player, drummer, and bass player in conjunto music.

There will also be "Lifetime Achievement" awards handed out to six conjunto legends — Gilberto Perez, Sr., Efrain Solis, Cande Aguilar, Sr., Ruben Garza, Temo Lopez and Tomas Vasquez.

Throughout the program there will be over 15 different conjuntos performing, including but not limited to: Conjunto Kingz de Flavio Longoria (San Antonio), Boni Mauricio y Los Maximos (Corpus Christi), Ruben de la Cruz y su conjunto (Elsa), Katie Lee Ledezma y su conjunto (Brownsville), Los Badd Boyz del Valle (Elsa), and Gilberto Lopez y sus Hijos (Edinburg).

The event will be streamed via audio on online radio stations "El Magico Show", "DJ Dora Da Explorer Radio", and "Tejano Radio", and will be broadcast on public television at a later date in August. It will eventually be uploaded online for fans to check out later in the year.

As for the rest of the year, the local organization does have some more things on their plate, and continues to urge fans to continue to support their local conjunto events.

"We have other events on the schedule including more dances and more conjunto concerts," Saenz said. "People must continue to support conjunto music in the Valley or it will be gone."

What: 18th annual "Conjunto of the Year" Award Ceremony.
When: June 17th, 5 PM to 10 PM.
Where: KC Hall, 150 N Ohio Ave, Mercedes.
Tickets: $10.00
Contact: For more information, call 956-454-2207
Website: conjunto.org