Comments on: Mariachi Music Gaining Credibility in Texas Schools

By: Stephanie Johnson

Stephanie Johnson — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:52:00 +0000

Creo que es importante que los niños estudian todos tipos de música. Mariachi es muy importante para la cultura mexicana. Desde que México está tan cerca de Texas es natural. Creo que esta es una cosa muy buena. Más niños deben ser multi-cultural.

By: Maria Maria

Maria Maria — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:01:00 +0000

I
wish I was musically talented enough to be in a mariachi band. I hope that mariachi
spreads to all of the schools in the nation. If I had the opportunity to be in
a mariachi high school band, I think I would have tried harder at the violin
when I was a kid.

By: Pez Fimbres

Pez Fimbres — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 04:02:00 +0000

I stopped playing violin for over 10 yrs and my sister that started a community Mariachi in Killeen TX tricked me into joining her and helping the members learn how to play. Most of them had never seen a violin before. We had members from 5yrs-70yrs old. From all kinds of backgrounds- Mexican, Puerto Rican, Hungarian, French/Black and MANY more. We started out passing a violin around and borrowing other instruments and eventually had purchased instruments for everyone. We formed a large, respected group. People were driving from Waco to play in our humble group. The reason I mention this is that it is NEVER too late to pick up your instrument again. Just Do It!!! Mariachi is fun and Challenging and I am now a professional> Went from High school spanish to being able to communicate with spanish speakers at work.

By: sapiente

sapiente — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 18:30:00 +0000

jason,
thanks for your reply.

Seems to me, that with millions of Latinos in your audience (our largest minority), you would have done better to have used the non-Anglicized pronunciation.

But that’s just my opinion . . . why don’t you ask Maria Hinojosa what she thinks?

By: Tomas

Tomas — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 20:27:00 +0000

La musica mariachi esta adorado por muchas personas, especialmente las personas Mexicanas porque la musica es un parte grande de esta cultura. Como mucha musica, esta jugado en las escuelas sobre el mundo, y es normal que la mariachi esta jugado en esta escuela, tan cerca de la pais de Mexico. Posiblemente, la musica Mariachi en la escuela va a expandar sobre el estado de Texas y el pais de America.

By: Mary Pena

Mary Pena — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:01:00 +0000

My daughter and I attended the Tucson Mariachi Festival a couple of years ago and part of the program was showcasing student mariachi’s from various states. I can attest to the fact that I saw several mariachis that included non-Mexicans. And what I found thrilling was that some of the mariachis were from local elementary schools and yes, there were the blond, blue-eyed little kids playing the violin and the guitar and singing their little hearts out. It was amazing!

By: felipem5816

felipem5816 — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:46:00 +0000

Being from the North, it’s not that often you get to hear mariachi music live. Being a band kid, it’s also been a dream among some of us players to do mariachi music. Too bad I stopped playing violin years ago. Mariachi music is an amazing genre and shouldn’t be taken as a joke. Any musician who can play garners my respect total respect for the amount of talent they have.

By: Natalia

Natalia — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:29:00 +0000

La
popularidad es un milla pierda por la cultura Latina. La música de mariachi es una parte importante en cultura
mexicana. La música es la conexión
de culturas diferentes. Es bueno
que mariachi gana popularidad en colegios. Chicanos en colegios puede apreciar sus herencias y juntar
con familia.

By: Jason Margolis

Jason Margolis — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:39:00 +0000

According to the Merriam Webster and Oxford dictionaries, both pronunciations are acceptable. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mariachi

and

http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/mariachi

I was using a more Anglicized version, as I am not a native Spanish speaker. (I do speak Spanish, however.) I’d heard it both ways in Texas.

-Jason

By: zulazdance

zulazdance — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:26:00 +0000

I live and work in a city across from the Tijuana border (San Diego area). I work at a high school of the performing arts and our mariachi program is led by a mariachi teacher who was coaxed down here from Washington state to help build a program and help Mexican students learn and connect with their culture. The teacher is a middle-aged white man and he happens to be nominated for teacher of the year in our district. When I first saw him, I thought to myself ”this doesn’t connect; a white man teaching mariachi?” What a joy it is to have him with us.

By: sapiente

sapiente — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:28:00 +0000

Was anyone, other than me, blown away by the fact that Jason did not, even once during the whole story, pronounce “Mariachi” correctly. Why couldn’t your editor, or any Latino in the studio, have pointed out to you that the first “a” in Mariachi is pronounced like the “a” in Mars, NOT like the “a” in mare (female horse)????

By: mariachimusicdotcom

mariachimusicdotcom — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 17:12:00 +0000

Jason, thank you for your article on mariachi music. Mariachi music flourished in San Antonio back in the 70s through the church and the schools. Hundreds of adults and children like myself learned the beautiful traditions of Mexico’s folk music through Catholic churches and later in schools. Those were certainly glorious days 35 years ago growing up playing mariachi music. For us kids back then, and for many youth today, mariachi music remains the only way for youth in public schools to learn more about the culture of Mexico outside of a Spanish class. There’s a very powerful movement taking place in Texas with thousands of youth involved in school-based mariachi music programs and entire communities supporting these programs. The South Texas Hispanic community is very passionate about carrying on the tradition and utilizing the mariachi music platform to promote higher education and cultural preservation. Personally, it’s a dream come true to see how mariachi music continues to grow throughout schools, especially in colleges and universities. It’s a dream come true to see mariachi music incorporated into opera’s like the Houston Grand Opera’s CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA and it’s a dream come true to see mariachi music part of major English TV Reality shows like American Idol.

It’s an entire community working diligently to help make dreams come true!

Cynthia Muñoz
Producer, 19th Annual Mariachi Extravaganza
San Antonio Texas

By: Jason Margolis

Jason Margolis — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:55:00 +0000

Thanks, Carmen. That’s a great question about non Latino students and mariachi. From what I saw, there weren’t any non Latino students participating in the mariachi ensembles. But, these high schools also have large Hispanic populations to begin with, so that needs to be considered in any analysis.

By: Carmen Mendoza Tintaya

Carmen Mendoza Tintaya — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:45:00 +0000

Thank you for this piece Jason. I’m originally from Peru and grew up listening to Mariachi because it is well known all over the Americas. I find it fascinating that there are classes on Mariachi’s in HS. I wonder how many non-Mexicans take the class and what they think about it.

By: Jason Margolis

Jason Margolis — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:20:00 +0000

Hi Frank,

Thanks for your note. While of course countless Mexicans adore and cherish mariachi, the point that was made in this story, and a point made to me repeatedly by people who study and teach mariachi is this: mariachi is not taught in Mexican university music departments or high schools, as it’s not seen as worthy of academic study. This is not a writer’s opinion.

-Jason Margolis