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Mariachi program keeps our local culture vibrant

BYMARVIN TESSNEER

The Las Cruces Bulletin

The 16th annual Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference will continue preserving the mariachi art form with music, dancing, youth workshops and international stars from Wednesday, Nov. 11, through Sunday, Nov. 15, at New Mexico State University’s Pan American Center and Corbett Center Student Union.

The stars will perform during the Spectacular Concert, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Pan American Center, director Phyillis Franzoy said.

The conference’s featured star is Pepe Aguilar, who has been a recording star for 35 years and has won numerous Grammy Awards. He was influenced by his parents, recording stars Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre, who first presented him on the stage at age 3. Two years later, he sangat New York’s Madison Square Garden, Franzoy said.

The longtime conference performers and supporters Mariachi Cobre also will perform. Since 1982, Mariachi Cobre has been a featured attraction at Disneyland’s Epcot in Orlando, Fla., and has performed with symphony orchestras throughout the United States, including the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Randy and Steve Carrillo and their friend Mack Ruiz founded Mariachi Cobre in 1971 in Tucson, Ariz., the Copper State, which gave them their name. They have performed with such singing stars as Lola Beltran, Linda Ronstadt, Aguilar, Pedro Fernandez, Ana Gabriel and Graciela Beltran.

The Spectacular Concert also will present Mariachi Mujer 2000, which is based in Los Angeles.

“This group is motivated by the desire to demonstrate that women in mariachi music cansuccessfully arrange and perform some of the most challenging mariachi selections,” Franzoy said.

The mariachi roots were rural, but the evolution of mariachi music as it is known today is urban, in post-revolution Mexico City, the Latino Encyclopedia reports.

The earliest mariachi instruments varied according to the regions where they performed, two violins, a five-string vihuela, a six-string bass guitarron in Jalisco or violins, a harp and a guitarra de golpe, the original mariachi guitar, in Michoacan.

By the 1920s, mariachi groups started experimenting with cornets, and the wind instruments stepped up the tempo so well that eventually the players switched to trumpets. The players kept experimenting, and now the mariachi standard calls for two trumpets, three or more violins, a vihuela and a guitarron.

The earliest mariachi group known to have played in Mexico City was led by Justo Villa, which reportedly performed for President Porfirio Diaz in 1905. Two years later they cut the first mariachi record titled, “Cuarteto Coculense,” In the 1920s, the Cirilo Marmolejo and Concho Andrade mariachis settled in the Mexican capital and performed in Plaza Garibaldi, a downtown square that had become a center for mariachi performances, the Latino Encyclopedia reports.

By the 1930s, radio, films and recordings spread the popularity of mariachis and made them a national culture, with Mariachi Tapatio de Jose Marmolejo becoming the most prominent. In the 1940s, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan was considered Mexico’s leading mariachi, and other groups kept up the mariachi culture, Mexico de Pepe Villa, Perla de Occidente, Los Mensajeros,Los Monarcas, Nuevo Tecalitlan, Oro y Plata de America and Dos Mil (2000).

The mariachi are easily recognized by their stage outfits, the traditional “traje de charro,” which usually comprises tightfitting, ornamental trousers and short jacket, embroidered belts, bow ties and wide sombreros.

The Student Showcase Concert will take place at 7:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, and will feature young performers with amazing talent – mariachi groups, vocalists and folkloric dance groups. Tickets are $6 and are available through the Pan Am Ticket Box Office at 646-1420.

The Spectacular Concert, featuring performances by Pepe Aguilar, Mariachi Cobre, Mariachi Mujer 2000 and many more, will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14. Tickets are $37 to $97 and are available at www.ticketmaster. com, by calling 800-745-3000 or through the Pan Am Ticket Box Office at 646-1420.

The Parque Festival, held from noon to 6 p.m. on the Mesilla Plaza, is a colorful mix of mariachi music, folkloric dancers, New Mexican foods and family activities. There will also be Hispanic arts, hands-on art and recreational activities for children and a number of vendors. There is a $2 admission fee and children 12 and under are free.

Las Cruces native and New Mexico State University senior, Liz Licon, won the 2008 Student Showcase Concert Gastellum scholarship.

KEN STINNETT For the Las Cruces Bulletin

This year’s Student Showcase Concert takes place at 7:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at the Pan Am Center.

KEN STINNETT For the Las Cruces Bulletin