Some people make music. Eva Ybarra has spent a lifetime carrying a musical tradition forward, expanding it, and making it entirely her own.

Known as the Queen of the Accordion, Eva is a pioneering conjunto accordionist, composer, singer, and bandleader. She began playing the accordion at four years old and started recording professionally as a teenager. Throughout her career, she has distinguished herself not only through extraordinary musicianship, but through original compositions and an adventurous approach that helped push conjunto music in new directions.

In 2017, Eva received the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts. She was also named the 2022 Texas State Musician. These honors recognize what audiences and fellow musicians have known for decades: Eva Ybarra is a living Texas treasure.
We feel especially lucky that she is also a HOME client.
 
Eva has been part of the HOME family for a little while now. Recently, thanks to an extraordinarily generous gift from Lynne Dobson and Greg Wooldridge, HOME was able to help facilitate her move into a new home.
 

To celebrate, Eva hosted a HOMEwarming party for our team and her family. We gathered in her new space, shared food and stories, and had the joy of celebrating this new chapter with her. Carrie Rodriguez, who helped connect Eva with the support she needed and played an important role in helping make this moment possible, joined us for the celebration.
The afternoon was a celebration of Eva’s new chapter: the comfort of a place that feels like her own, family gathered around the table, and the chance to honor someone who has given so much to Texas music.
 
Eva’s story also reflects something important about HOME’s work: not all of our clients live within Austin’s city limits. The musicians we serve are scattered across the region, from Lockhart to Dripping Springs to the northern edges of San Antonio.
 
Our goal is not to bring everyone back to one ZIP code. It is to help aging musicians remain safely housed and connected to the people, places, and communities they love. Home may be a house in Austin, a small town outside the city, or a community farther south where someone has built a life over many decades. What matters is that it is theirs.

 
We are profoundly grateful to Lynne and Greg for making this new chapter possible and for believing that the legends who shaped our cultural identity deserve to age with dignity, security, and the support of a community that values them.
 
Eva, thank you for welcoming us into your new space and into your remarkable life. It is a privilege to celebrate you, support you, and call you part of the HOME family.
 
Welcome HOME, Queen Eva.