BARBARA KLEIN: Rene Rivera found a way out of the barrio through school and theater. He studied at a Catholic university in San Antonio. Then he entered the Juilliard School, the nation's leading training center for the performing arts.

RENE RIVERA: "That fall, I moved to New York, got there on a Greyhound bus, and started living in New York, and started going to school. And it was an amazing, amazing shock and eye-opening experience. It was like going to a different planet. It was beautiful, it was an amazing, a frightening just yet invigorating experience."

STEVE EMBER: In "The King of the Desert" he plays members of his family and other characters. He tells the story of a boy in an immigrant neighborhood that connects two cultures, Mexican and American.

Rene Rivera has performed in many Shakespearean productions. But he says he found "The King of the Desert" more intense. He says experiencing old emotions can be difficult. But the process has helped him better understand where he came from.

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BARBARA KLEIN: Our program was based on reporting by Faiza Elmasry, Amra Alirejsovic and Mike O'Sullivan. I'm Barbara Klein.

STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember. We have a link to a video of the Student Symphonic Orchestra of Fairfax on our website, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and iTunes at VOA Learning English.

We leave you with the orchestra in a concert recorded at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia. Conductor Matthew Martz is a student there.