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On a rainy Friday in Denver, Esmeralda Cuevas-Lara stands in a classroom at Metropolitan State University holding a water bottle to her lips in place of a microphone. As a few other students sit at desks watching, Cuevas-Lara belts out lyrics from the Mexican mariachi ballad âEl Herradero.â
âAy, quĂ© linda, quĂ© rechula las fiestas de mi ranchoâŠ,â she sings in Spanish.
Cuevas-Lara moved to Longmont from Guanajuato, Mexico when she was 15 years old. The song, she said, brings her back there.
âThis is my favorite song to sing, because the song is about the festivals in BajĂo, Mexico, and Iâm from BajĂoâfrom Guanajuato,â she said in Spanish. âI love being able to represent that region, thatâs so full of color, culture and music.â
Cuevas-Lara, a senior at Skyline High School in Longmont, is one of many students from across the state and country who convened at the university over the weekend for the Viva Southwest Mariachi Conference. From beginner trumpeters to advanced vocalists, the universityâs King Center was full of vibrant sound as young people honed their musicianship and met others passionate about traditional Mexican folk music over the course of Friday and Saturday.
The conference encourages students to improve their skills, but it is also an opportunity to celebrate part of Coloradoâs cultural heritage, said conference co-director Lorenzo Trujillo.
âThis was Mexico, and the border crossed us,â he said. âItâs part of Coloradoâs historical tapestry, and itâs important that we recognize it.â
Some mariachi instruments are common household names, like the trumpet and the guitar. But others, like the guitarrĂłn and the vihuela, are unique to the musical genre. Sixteen-year-old Julissa Enriquez, also from Skyline High in Longmont, attended the conference to work on her guitarrĂłn skills.
âThe guitarrĂłn is like a really big guitar, basically, but itâs the base of the mariachi. It keeps, like, the entire mariachi in time, and itâs just way lower than the guitar,â she said. âI got interested because there was, like, a showcase at school, and I was just like, âWow, they sound so good!ââ
The conference attracts top mariachi instructors to work with students. This year, Disney Worldâs Mariachi Cobre was on hand to guide and encourage the next generation. The bandâs guitarist Omar Olivas said teaching children to play mariachi is joyfulâbut it also has deeper meaning.
âFolk music sometimes dies off with time, and with generations, because, you know, new music comes in. And while new music is great, I think itâs always important to learn and to keep that traditional folk music alive,â he said. âIt ties you to your ancestors, it ties you to your homeland.â
As Friday afternoon wore into evening, students began to trade their jeans and T-shirts for the colorful ruffled shirts and adorned suit jackets of mariachi concert attire. Some strummed vihuelas as they walked the halls toward the stage while others told jokes secretively before putting on the faces of serious musicians once again.
Cuevas-Lara said she was preparing for a solo at the student showcase that night.
âIâm a little nervous because I want to do the best that I can,â she said in Spanish. âThereâs always going to be fear that something could go wrong, but I also want to enjoy it as much as possible, to represent my school and Mexico.â
Come performance time, there was plenty of enjoyment to be had. What began as a smattering of mariachi groups performing in the halls and stages of the King Center around 5 p.m. Friday soon turned into an all-out jamboree of mariachi bands of all ages playing in any available crevice of the centerâs main hall. Crowds watched as folklĂłrico dancers spun around and mariachi bandsâsome of them with members as young as elementary schoolâproduced sounds that made the snowfall outside feel like sunshine.
Olivas of Mariachi Cobre said he encouraged his students at the conference to remember that their audience wants the best for themâand he couldnât wait to see them put the new techniques theyâd learned into practice.
âWhen youâre standing in front of all these strangers, like I told them in the classes, everybody thatâs watching you wants you to succeed. They want you to do good,â Olivas said. âIt just brings me joy to see them up on the stage.â