In school, if you're in band, there are generally three options: marching, orchestra and jazz. Now a new program at Metropolitan State University in Denver adds to that repertoire.
“You know, orchestra, jazz, choir, these are standard, bread-and-butter parts of any music program,” said Metro music professor Lorenzo Trujillo. “Mariachi is one of the pieces of the puzzle, of the mosaic of American culture and specifically in the southwest.”
Trujillo leads Metro’s mariachi class, Mariachi Los Correcaminos de MSU Denver. The 15-member ensemble is just one of the few programs of its kind taught in the state, but not for much longer, according to Trujillo. Mariachi is becoming a big draw.
“Throughout the United States, with the increased enrollment of Latino students, it becomes imperative as a means to address their interests, keep them in school,” he said. “And it shows, in fact, [that] academic achievement increases, attendance increases when we offer curriculum that is relevant to them.”
But more mariachi music classes mean there’s a need for more people who can teach mariachi.
The class was started by students. It began as a club and quickly took off, even garnering an award for Best Student Club in its first year, said Metro Music Department Chair Peter Schimpf.
He hopes to eventually turn the for-credit class into a graduate-level offering so that music educators can get certified in mariachi and teach it to their students.
“We’d love to see MSU Denver be an academic hub for mariachi in Colorado and regionally,” Schimpf said. “We have a large Hispanic population, and we want to grow as a music program that speaks to the musical interests of as broad a population as possible.”
Many of the mariachi ensembles’ students aren’t what you might expect. They aren’t Hispanic. They didn’t grow up with mariachi. And while they sing in Spanish, they may not necessarily speak it.
Like Ben Kellogg.
“So, I’m Hispanic but I’m not technically Mexican, so I didn’t really know anything about mariachi till I joined,” said Kellogg, who has played trumpet with the ensemble for three years. After graduation, he hopes to teach music and make mariachi as ubiquitous to public school band ensembles as jazz. Kellogg volunteers at Denver area elementary schools, working with students to teach them about mariachi music.
“Over 50 years ago, jazz was not a part of the school curriculum and now we have jazz bands in middle school and high school,” he said. “So I think it’s a good idea to keep a lot of styles under the belt, give kids more opportunities to expand and to relate to other culture.”
Others, like sophomore Genesis Ruiz, grew up with mariachi.
“My grandparents -- they used to sing, they used to be a trio -- and from there it just got passed on to my sister and I,” said Ruiz, who plays violin with the Metro ensemble.
Ruiz also was also a student at Bryant Webster Elementary School, which created Denver Public School District’s first mariachi program.
“I got to play with a lot of new people and not just new people that know their instruments but new people that don’t know about mariachi,” she said. “And it was just fun getting to know them and how they interact with us.”
For graduating senior Will Roland, the class was a learning experience.
“Even growing up, you know, there’s the image of the giant sombreros and the loud, annoying restaurant band and it’s really not about that,” said Roland, who plays the guitarrón, literally translated into Spanish as the “big guitar.” “It’s a much more rich and less stereotyped tradition than I think a lot of people from my background expect going into it. Even myself, I can attest that it surprised me.”
It’s that awareness that music professor Lorenzo Trujillo said can go a long way, not only at Metro but in any classroom as mariachi becomes more mainstream. Because it’s not just about teaching students the technical aspects of the music.
“You know the cowboy ballad (...) started in the United States because of the Mexican corrido,” Trujillo said. “The Mexican corrido is the ballad, and in the United Stated the ballad became -- it’s a standard now. And, of course, it’s been a standard in Mexico for a long time.”
