Music Cures: The Healing Power of the Accordion After a Shooting

By Julieta Martinelli and Erica Hellerstein Oct 3, 2025

• California

• Family

• Health

• Immigration

• Music

This story was produced in collaboration with El Tímpano, a civic media organization serving and covering the Bay Area’s Latino and Mayan immigrant communities. Original reporting of this story can be found here and here.

A farmworker opened fire at two farms in Half Moon Bay, California, in January 2023. He killed seven men, six co-workers and a supervisor, all immigrants. He also shot an eighth man —five times— but he survived.

The physical recovery for Pedro Romero Pérez has been a long one, but his emotional healing has been even longer. José, Pedro’s older brother and only family in the U.S., didn’t survive the shooting. In this episode, we go to Half Moon Bay, where an unconventional music program is helping Pedro and others heal from their deepest wounds through the keys and wails of the accordion.

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Episode credits:

Reporter: Erica HellersteinProducer: Julieta MartinelliProduction Assistance: Adreanna Rodriguez and Roxana AguirreEditor: Andrea López-CruzadoEngineer: Gabriela BaezSocial media: Luis Luna and Jackie HillManaging editor: Fernanda EchavarriExecutive Producers: Peniley Ramírez and Maria Hinojosa

Featured photo: Perez practices the accordion with classmates at Cabrillo Farms. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/Catchlight/Report for America corps member