SILVER CITY, NM 鈥撀 The sound of mariachi music could be heard throughout the western part of the Western New Mexico University campus June 4-6, as the university hosted El Son de la Gila, its annual mariachi conference. Drawing students and their mariachi directors from across the southwest, the conference provided an opportunity for high school students to learn from master mariachis, and it allowed their group leaders to network and learn from each other.
Organizing the conference was a group effort, involving not only WNMU music faculty and staff, but also the members of the university鈥檚 mariachi group, Mariachi Plata de WNMU. One member of Mariachi Plata de WNMU, Alejandro Salinas, who plays guitarr贸n, said that Plata members had helped with a wide variety of tasks, from setting up tables to helping the high school students get where they needed to be.
Fellow Mariachi Plata de WNMU member Anais Orantez Middleton added that the team worked especially well this year to organize the conference. 鈥淲e are blessed to have a really like-minded team this year. We are all working toward the same goal, and it motivates us to work harder,鈥 she said.
One of the benefits of helping to organize the conference is that the members of Mariachi Plata get to learn from the maestros alongside the high school students, said Laisha Vargas Garcia. The maestros are members of Mariachi Estrella de Mexico from Guadalajaro, Jalisco, and they teach both individual and group sessions over the three days of the conference.
鈥淲e have learned so much from them,鈥 said Vargas Garcia, 鈥渓ike how to put our whole bodies into mariachi. The performance is not just about 鈥 sound.鈥
Director of Mariachi Plata Bryant Chaffino, who has organized El Son de la Gila for the past three years, said that the biggest challenge this year was a lack of funding. This lack of funding meant that he was not even sure for a time that the conference would go forward. However, the community stepped up to support the conference, Chaffino said. 鈥淟ast night鈥檚 dinner was provided by LULAC,鈥 he stated on the first full day of the conference, referring to the local arm of the League of United Latin American Citizens. 鈥淭hey put on a beautiful, delicious spread.鈥
Despite the challenges of this year鈥檚 event, El Son de la Gila drew in over 80 students from across the region.
Carolina Romero, who leads the music program at Atrisco Heritage Academy High School in Albuquerque, said that she would never miss an opportunity to bring her students to the conference.
Romero stated that she first became aware of Mariachi Plata de WNMU when she saw them perform at Mariachi Spectacular de Albuquerque several years ago. At that event, she met Chaffino, and they have worked together since. 鈥淭hat was the start of our collaboration,鈥 Romero explained. 鈥淲e have been working on how to unify our state on mariachi education.鈥
Since that time, she has brought her students regularly to the conference, and many of them have gone on to matriculate at WNMU. Several of the current members of Mariachi Plata de WNMU are Atrisco Heritage alumni who first learned about the university through El Son de la Gila.
鈥淲e come to show these students what they can do after high school and to see how great these college kids are鈥攈ow they are thriving,鈥 said Romero. 鈥淚t is just inspirational for everybody.鈥
Romero added that the collaboration between her high school and WNMU has been outstanding. 鈥淲e are building a bridge between high school and college that is so important for these kids,鈥 she said.
Tamarah Lucero, who directs youth mariachis with both Albuquerque High School and the Santa Fe Symphony, said that she has been bringing students to El Son de la Gila since the conference began. 鈥淲e like to go to all the conferences that we can, so the students can learn from the different maestros,鈥 she explained. 鈥淐onferences bring in maestros from out of state and out of country, so students can learn as much as the can.鈥
Lucero said that one of the most important things students gain from El Son de la Gila is a sense of camaraderie with students from other schools. 鈥淭hey get to see each other in these different settings and, of course, learn from the maestros,鈥 she added.