William Mendoza Director/Manager/Vocals – The Latin Heartbeat Orchestra (The LHO) is the realization of a lifelong odyssey of musical pursuits and perseverance, dating back to the 1970’s NYC. William Mendoza was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico and raised in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The amazing diversity of cultures and arts he was surrounded by helped to fuel what would eventually become his life’s passion and work. William was right in the mix of it all during the birth of the FANIA Salsa Movement, learning how to play bass guitar at age 13 and later moving on to steel drums where he would discover his “true love” – percussion. After years of playing the NYC Latin scene with acts such as the Latin rock band “Malo”, William decided to take a hiatus from the performing arts arena in order to raise a family of his own and focus on further developing his business acumen. However, it was only a matter of time before the music would once again come calling, beckoning him back to his passion and paving the way for him to now bring to you – The Latin Heartbeat Orchestra.