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It may have been a whim, or providence, that landed Jos’-Luis Orozco a job with the Berkeley public schools over 30 years ago. The young Mexican immigrant didn’t have a degree, or money, but possessed the voice of a lark, and ambition. ”Realizing that Orozco was a gifted musician with a treasure of Mexican songs in his heart, the Berkeley school district hired Orozco to teach music in the classroom. ””There was a lot of money for bilingual education in California back in the 1970s, and scholarship money for college,” says Orozco, who went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in 1974 and later earned his master’s degree in multicultural education, which set him on his life’s path. ”The award-winning educator, performer, songwriter and author of numerous books for children is now living in Los Angeles to be closer to his target Latino population. ”When Orozco was 10 years old, he was accepted into Mexico City Children’s Choir, which conveyed him around the world for three years. “We traveled to the Caribbean, Europe and Latin America and performed for five different heads of state, including Prince Rainier of Monaco, ” says Orozco, adding, “It was the opportunity of our lives.” ”Just as music has been the key to Orozco’s life, and success, he believes music to be the most important, non-threatening tool for teaching. ””People learn more by playing and singing,” he says, and has developed a comprehensive curriculum based on this principle. ”Whether he is inviting us to sing along with joyous and colorful songs that celebrate Latin-American culture, or working with parents and teachers to promote literacy, Orozco is reinforcing the values conveyed through the oral tradition. ”In his books, Orozco illustrates universal themes. In his latest, “Rin, Rin, Rin’Do Re Mi,” (Scholastic), he depicts how everyday family activities such as cooking, singing and storytelling prepare children for reading and life. “Los Pollitos”(the chicks) is about affection and “Diez Deditos, Ten Little Fingers” teaches counting and parts of the body all wrapped into finger rhymes and action songs. The entire selection are available at www.joseluisorozco.com. ”One of his primary aims now that he is in Los Angeles is to work with the large Latino population in improving literacy. Toward that end, he is targeting children between the ages of two and nine, many of whom are not exposed to reading at home. ””Many of these families are just focusing on survival, which doesn’t allow them to remember how happy they were in their own childhood back home. We try to give them the love of education and books, and encourage parents to take the time to sing and play games with them because it is very important.” ”Many parents indeed carry their native culture inside in remembered songs and nursery rhymes. “If they sing to their children all the time, it will help them keep the oral tradition alive and help with reading,” Orozco believes. ”Two songs in particular, “Paz y Libertad” and “Viva Mi Barrio,” which Orozco wrote in the early 1980s, recognize the hundreds of refugees from the political conflicts in Central America, and encourage self-esteem and high expectations. ”Orozco and his wife, Julie Castro Orozco, who is a bilingual teacher currently teaching fourth grade at Marvin Elementary School at Fairfax and Washington, moved to Pacific Palisades a year ago with their youngest son, Pablo, 14. ”Encouraged by the leadership of Antonio Villaraigosa, Orozco says that the new mayor was already familiar with his music through his wife Connie, who is a teacher in Montebello. ””When I met Villaraigosa at the family book fair in East L. A., he started singing “Chocolate” (uno, dos, tres, ‘ch’, uno, dos, tres ‘co’, uno, dos, tres ‘la”),” Orozco says, convinced Los Angeles is the place to be if he wants to record more and reach the large population of children, who are failing in school, dropping out, and becoming more and more handicapped in the workplace. ”Orozco started his company, Arcoiris children’s records, in 1984, disappointed with the lack of materials in so many of the public schools. Over the years, schools and libraries have used his books and CDs. “De Colores” and “Diez Deditos” have been adopted by the state of Texas. ”Beyond his consultant work, performance and speaking engagements, Orozco is working with La Raza, Scholastic and Verizon on a national literacy campaign. He will attend the national book festival in Washington, D. C. in late September to launch this campaign, which targets the Spanish-speaking communities around the country. ”While many of the songs Orozco includes in his collections he learned from his mother and grandmother in Mexico City, others he picked up while traveling in Latin America and Spain, and others are his own creations. ””I have also translated many familiar songs in English, such as “Magic Penny,” “This Land is Your Land,” and “The Wheels on the Bus” he says. ”Sixty percent of the songs native to Latin American were brought by the Catholic Church, certainly all the lullabies, which always refer to the baby Jesus, says Orozco. He finds that he can easily change the gender of the baby to make the song suitable for all small children, Christian and non-Christian. ”But whatever the song, Orozco relies on the catchy tune to incorporate the tools for teaching reading. ””Reading is very political,” Orozco says. “Everything I do is political’education, teaching and reading. But politics are important because this is what gives people an opportunity to make a better life and a better world.” ”In 1978, Orozco produced a CD of freedom songs called “Corridos Mexicanos y Chicanos,” which traces the history of freedom fighters, from Don Miguel Hildalgo, the father of Mexico’s independence, to Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, co-founders of the United Farm Workers’ Union. ”Orozco has sung for the migrant children in the Coachella Valley, and just last week he participated in the peace vigil on the Village Green, playing his guitar while he led the way with his clear, lyrical tenor in “America The Beautiful, “This Land is Your Land,” and others in the folk genre of freedom songs. ”Orozco will be performing at the Getty Museum at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, August 27 and 28.