Our Story
Welcome & Mission
Welcome to the Kookix Music School! We are a private, not-for-profit project that offers free music classes to the children of Dzemul and the surrounding pueblos of the northern Yucatan, giving them the opportunity to learn, grow, and discover the joy and discipline of music, pursuing the vision of music as a vehicle for social change. What began as a small idea on our ranch has become a vibrant community of young musicians, teachers, visiting artists, families, and friends — and your support is a meaningful part of that story.
Origins
The project was started by Marjorie Skouras and Bruno Bardavid on their ranch, Quinta Kookix, in September 2021. To date, it has been supported by Marjorie and Bruno, along with donations from friends and a growing family of donors from nine countries around the world, in the form of both funds and instruments. Our aim was to find a way in which we could participate meaningfully in our new community, where we are two of only eight foreigners currently living here. There was no music school in Dzemul; the only option for music instruction was private lessons, something that is cost-prohibitive for most of the children in Dzemul. Dzemul, like most of Mexico, has a rich musical and dance tradition—the Ballet Folklorico Las Gardenias Jarana dancers are known statewide, and three generations ago Dzemul had an 80-piece orchestra named the Clave Azul (The Blue Note). Our thought was that we could offer something that might provide an enriching experience through music, fill a void for the community, and help preserve local traditions.
Growth & Milestones
We started our project on September 30, 2021, with three students, not knowing what kind of reception we would have. At the time of this update in July 2026, as we approach our fifth anniversary, more than 100 local children have attended the program.
Why Music?
People ask us, “Why music?” We were looking to support a program with strong historical and traditional roots, and the idea of social change through music—affording children the opportunity to explore beyond their geographic and socioeconomic boundaries—took shape organically. The students have formed a most wonderful community, one of which we are so proud to be a part. We also just love music and the joy that it brings to everyone involved.
Visiting Musicians & Cultural Exchange
We are delighted to be able to host visiting musicians on a regular basis. Some of our favorites include Steve Katz, one of the founding members of the legendary Blood, Sweat & Tears, who gifted us his personal guitar. For a girl from 1960s San Francisco, this was really cool. Jennifer Charles, the founder of the well-known group Elysian Fields, has visited us twice and gifted the school her personal Korg, which had traveled around the globe with her. She enjoyed her visit so much that she has asked to return for a workshop on world music.
We had an incredible afternoon with blues legend Charlie Musselwhite, including an amazing impromptu jam session with the Kookix percussionists. For our Christmas 2025 party, we had the divine Hermanas Pech Bolio, who came and played for and with us—it was magical. Alejandro Pinzon, born and raised in Merida and now the conductor of the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra, visited with his treasured bandoneon, which thrilled everyone.
Cultural Focus: Trova Yucateca
A seminal moment was an afternoon of musical exchange with Daniel Borges, a famous composer of Trova Yucateca, the glorious music that is unique to Yucatecan culture. With this, the students themselves proposed that the program shift to emphasize the development of a Trova group, as a way for them to directly preserve and promote this rich cultural tradition. Trova Yucateca is now the focus of the school.
Teachers & Partnerships
Over the past three years, one of our greatest challenges has been finding teachers who will make the trip out to us. There have been several who have helped us along our path, but the miracle we had been awaiting arrived in July 2024. We have been able to form an alliance with Jose Luis Chan Sabido and his Vienna Music Academy in the neighboring town of Motul.
Jose Luis’s story is the remarkable voyage of an 11-year-old violin prodigy from the Yucatan. At the age of 16, he had the opportunity to attend the Instituto Superior de Musica del Estado de Veracruz; he was later sent to Mexico City, where he performed with the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico City for two years. After that, he went to study music in Vienna, spending the next 20 years in Europe.
Upon returning to the Yucatan, he became the conductor of OSY, the symphony orchestra of the Yucatan, and formed the statewide Yucatan Children’s Orchestra featuring 450 young musicians from around the state. He established his music academy nearby in late 2023 as part of his vision of giving back to his people.
He shares our vision of the enormous value of music and the wonderful benefits it affords to the intellectual and emotional growth of young people, as well as the structure it gives them on which to build a better life. We are thrilled to be working with him as our Program Director, and he has provided us with high-level professional teachers whose impact has been immediate and profound, including our maestro de Trova, Roberto Chan, and our maestro de percussion, Eladio Eb.
Program Experience & Community Impact
As part of our overall program, we are now able to make excursions to the wonderful museums in Merida, attend musical events and concerts around the Yucatan, and welcome visiting musicians to our schoolhouse. As a personal gesture of our commitment to this project, Bruno and I built an air-conditioned schoolhouse with four covered outdoor classroom areas, two bathrooms, and a beautiful garden. We have also completed an additional guest house on our property where we can host visiting performers and teachers.
In June 2024, four of our guitarists were invited to go to Mexico City to perform at the Sala Nezahualcoyotl at UNAM, the most important auditorium in Latin America, with 650 other young musicians from the Colegio Ciudad de México Plantel Contadero. It was the trip of a lifetime for them and their mothers.
With the belief and help of many, we have exceeded our wildest expectations in this short period of time and look forward to providing continued growth and opportunities on all fronts for these terrific kids as we move toward our fifth year.
We have known that the Yucatan is a place of magic since we arrived. Beyond the wild beauty and history of it all—it is the seat of the Mayan Empire—its magic manifests on a nearly daily basis. To be able to live amongst these joyous, kind, and generous people lifts one’s spirit and makes one feel that, indeed, anything is possible. The original idea was to find a way in which we could become part of our new community, and to give back for the great fortune of being able to live here. It has become something so much bigger than this. It has changed the way we live our lives, as well as our outlooks and beliefs, and those of many of the students. We have not only been accepted by our community but embraced in a way we could never have imagined.
How to Help
We invite you to become part of this joyful and growing community in any way that you are able. Every gift—whether funds, instruments, expertise, or a visit to the schoolhouse—helps keep these classes free and open to the children of Dzemul and the surrounding pueblos. Together, we have become a portal to the world for these young musicians, offering them not only professional instruction, but confidence, discipline, friendship, beauty, and the possibility of imagining a larger future. Bruno and I have pledged ourselves to their support and growth, and with your help, Kookix can continue to flourish for many years to come. To make this possible, we have engaged a fiscal sponsor in the United States, Fractured Atlas, where you are able to make tax-deductible donations https://www.fracturedatlas.org. We are also happy to accept donations through PayPal, or mano a mano in person—we are always thrilled to have visitors on days when classes are in session!
With deep gratitude for your interest, encouragement, and support—