Milestone Meeting of Mariachi Music Educators

Richard Rodriguez – Multicultural Music Representative, California Association for Music Education

As a significant step to make music education more inclusive and relevant in today¹s schools, the National Association for Music Education (MENC), held a meeting on mariachi music education at the Reston, Virginia headquarters on December 13. The meeting, chaired by MENC president David Circle and co-chaired by former MENC Western-States Division president Marcia Neel, addressed the exploding interest in mariachi music nationwide. The meeting was attended by a small group of leading educators and performers in the mariachi field to trade ideas and discuss the many possibilities open to mariachi music making in the schools and communities of the United States. This prestigious panel included legendary Jose Hernandez of Mariachi Sol de Mexico, revered Texas mariachi educator Belle Ortiz, as well as the foremost ethnomusicologist of mariachi music, and Director & Curator of Smithsonian’s Folkways Recordings, Daniel Sheehy.

The topics covered the breadth and quality of what mariachi music will bring to the nearly 120,000 MENC memberships, and likewise what this organization can do to enhance this great cultural tradition so popular with students from Latino communities as well as students of all races and ethnicities.

The panel discussions created an air of excitement at the interest mariachi music represents to the mission of MENC and its potential to expand opportunities to engage students in public schools. The master practitioners that have committed resources and time to the education of students through mariachi music are coming forward to assist MENC by providing knowledge to help teachers in the many forms that mariachi music takes in the successful school and community programs existing today. Providing sequential age-appropriate teaching curriculum, and equally significant professional development assistance for teachers that would be necessary for a successful implementation was discussed. The resources that MENC can bring would include performances, clinics, classes, and news and professional articles supporting mariachi books and materials comparable with those that now exist for band, orchestra, and choir. Communication would improve with a presence on the MENC website, conference strands would be developed, and special emphasis for those seeking specialized instruction as beginning teachers as well as those with a more familiar knowledge of this captivating style of learning music would be shared.

Given the significant interest in multicultural music existing in California, a large benefit by this commitment from MENC would be realized. In a recent MENC sponsored on-line survey dealing with mariachi music education, participation of respondents from California was first, having almost double the participation of the next closest state. Slowly the acceptance and valuing of music making from the wide variety of cultural traditions that exists in our state has occurred, and this recent development and association with mariachi music by MENC is sure to increase music education’s stature and value to communities and families alike.

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