For thousands of years Central and South America has cultivated and birthed sound that is known today for having the power to compel listeners to shuffle feet and sway hips. The music of this region has deep roots in the culture of people living there as well as the millions living in the United States.
The music department at American River College has created a comprehensive structure that covers all the essential elements that a music major would need, however amidst choir, classical and jazz, Anthony Marvelli, professor of music, noticed there could be a missing piece that would connect them more deeply with the community at the college.
Attending a California Music Educators Association meeting, Marvelli saw a clinic labeled “how to start a mariachi band at your school,” where he realized it was something that was possible for ARC.
At ARC there is a large demographic of students and teachers with Mexican heritage and is considered a Hispanic serving institution, this meant the bureaucracy of creating the class and curriculum was easy, however when it came to getting the word out Marvelli wasn’t sure where to start.
Marvelli was able to meet students like Iris Perez, a music major who was excited to hear about the idea of an ensemble that played the music that she enjoys and grew up listening to.
“It’s what was played, you know, growing up when my mom was cleaning the house, or my dad would just turn the radio…I was like, oh, that’s something I could get behind,” Perez said.
Perez was an instrumental part in public relations and advertising the class—creating posters, running social media and speaking face-to-face with as many people as possible.
“Just to invite people who did resonate with mariachi music, who did grow up listening to mariachi, or any kind of variation of Mexican regional music,” Perez said.
And help in the makeup of the class has come from many places—with the class still being in its infancy, students’ knowledge, ideas and input have continued to leave their marks on the evolution of the class.
“I feel like Mariachi is not like any other class you take everybody is in there because, you know they love what they do, they’re enjoying the music…they’re enjoying the atmosphere,” said Gavin Rubio, an ARC student.
Rubio is also a kindergarten teacher and has grown up playing in mariachi bands, while still being part of a professional mariachi group named Mariachi Los Gallos.
With Rubio’s and many others’ input, the class has been able to produce an authentic sound and environment to learn mariachi. Although Marvelli might not have grown up playing mariachi, there has been more than enough input from students who have.
“I try to show them a little bit of technique, you know, introduce them to songs that are not too difficult for the class,” Rubio said. “The mariachi sounds great, it has grown a lot. From, you know, not being able to play mañanitas correctly to playing mañanitas in two or three different versions.”
The class will continue to change, with Marvelli hinting at a possibility of covering music from Afro-Cuban to Brazilian, all in the name of creating a great experience for students.
“We all kind of came to a general consensus that we want the group to grow, not just in numbers, but also in what we are offering,” Pérez said.
In the future semesters, the group hopes to expand the program to the point that they can have advanced and beginner groups, so that they can perform many varieties of music.
The Mariachi band also invites highschool and middle school groups to perform with them in order to drum up excitement for the program, as well as get the youth of the community involved in music.
“I think that’s beautiful just to be able to see the youth being involved with music and Mariachi,” Pérez said. “A lot of Mexican boys get involved with gangs or they get involved with drugs. And instead, I’m seeing them playing music, and I think that’s just a wonderful thing that we have this space for them to express themselves and to find a family within Mariachi.
The class also performs at various campus events like Cinco de Mayo, the patron’s lunch and festivals run by the Puente Club. The Mariachi band will also be performing at the ARC’s Latinx graduation on May 25.
Currently, the Mariachi program is waiting for UC approval so that the credits from the course are transferable for UCs and CSUs. The music department has also been working on creating an AA degree for the Mariachi program at ARC, since it is the first program of its kind in the area.
“I’m really happy with it,” Marvelli said. “I think it’s going to really be kind of a thing to celebrate here at our campus.”
