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.
鈥淵ou know, orchestra, jazz, choir, these are standard, bread-and-butter parts of any music program,鈥� said Metro music professor Lorenzo Trujillo. 鈥淢ariachi is one of the pieces of the puzzle, of the mosaic of American culture and specifically in the southwest.鈥�
Trujillo leads Metro鈥檚 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.
鈥淭hroughout the United States, with the increased enrollment of Latino students, it becomes imperative as a means to address their interests, keep them in school,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it shows, in fact, [that] academic achievement increases, attendance increases when we offer curriculum that is relevant to them.鈥�
But more mariachi music classes mean there鈥檚 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.
鈥淲e鈥檇 love to see MSU Denver be an academic hub for mariachi in Colorado and regionally,鈥� Schimpf said. 鈥淲e 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.鈥�
Many of the mariachi ensembles鈥� students aren鈥檛 what you might expect. They aren鈥檛 Hispanic. They didn鈥檛 grow up with mariachi. And while they sing in Spanish, they may not necessarily speak it.
Like Ben Kellogg.
鈥淪o, I鈥檓 Hispanic but I鈥檓 not technically Mexican, so I didn鈥檛 really know anything about mariachi till I joined,鈥� 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.
鈥淥ver 50 years ago, jazz was not a part of the school curriculum and now we have jazz bands in middle school and high school,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o I think it鈥檚 a good idea to keep a lot of styles under the belt, give kids more opportunities to expand and to relate to other culture.鈥�
Others, like sophomore Genesis Ruiz, grew up with mariachi.
鈥淢y grandparents -- they used to sing, they used to be a trio -- and from there it just got passed on to my sister and I,鈥� 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鈥檚 first mariachi program.
鈥淚 got to play with a lot of new people and not just new people that know their instruments but new people that don鈥檛 know about mariachi,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd it was just fun getting to know them and how they interact with us.鈥�
For graduating senior Will Roland, the class was a learning experience.
鈥淓ven growing up, you know, there鈥檚 the image of the giant sombreros and the loud, annoying restaurant band and it鈥檚 really not about that,鈥� said Roland, who plays the guitarr贸n, literally translated into Spanish as the 鈥渂ig guitar.鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 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.鈥�
It鈥檚 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鈥檚 not just about teaching students the technical aspects of the music.
鈥淵ou know the cowboy ballad (...) started in the United States because of the Mexican corrido,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淭he Mexican corrido is the ballad, and in the United Stated the ballad became -- it鈥檚 a standard now. And, of course, it鈥檚 been a standard in Mexico for a long time.鈥�
