Mariachi groups and individuals can register now to participate in San Antonio’s 17th Annual Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza. The early registration deadline to secure a spot in mariachi workshops and competitions is November 10. Register as a group or individual before this date to avoid paying the late fee. The final day to register for the Extravaganza is November 17. Registrations will not be accepted after that date.

The mariachi instrumental and vocal workshops are scheduled for Friday, December 2 at the Lila Cockrell Theater and Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Mariachi group competitions will take place that evening at the Lila Cockrell Theater starting at 5 p.m. The student vocal competitions will take place Saturday, December 3 also at the Lila Cockrell Theater starting at 9 a.m. First place winners for each group category and the “Best Mariachi Vocalist in the US” will be invited to open for Mariachi Vargas at the Lila Cockrell Theater. (See below for wristband information to attend competitions.)

Click Here to purchase tickets to see Mariachi Vargas in concert at the Lila Cockrell Theater. TWO concerts will be held on Saturday, December 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 4 at 3 p.m.

Over 1,000 mariachi musicians will convene in San Antonio for more than 100 live performances during the city’s 17th Annual Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza November 27 through December 4. The 8-day mariachi music festival is the largest and longest running mariachi music event of its kind in the U.S. Competitive mariachi group and vocal competitions, spectacular mariachi concerts and numerous free community presentations and performances are scheduled. The Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza is named after the internationally acclaimed and Mexico City based, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán who performed their first US mariachi festival in San Antonio in 1979.

**Wristbands to attend the group and vocal competition should be purchased in advance for $7 by calling 210-225-3353. Wristbands may be purchased at the door for $10. Limited seating is available so please purchase wristbands in advance. The purchase of one wristband allows for entry into both the mariachi group and vocal competition.

The fabulous Vanessa (Cerda) Alonso is sharing her talents in Paris, France as part of the Houston Grand Opera’s cast from “To Cross the Face of the Moon.” The Houston native sings mariachi with the opera in 6 shows Sept. 16-28 at the Theatre du Chatlet along with the Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan and 7 other cast members representing the Houston Grand Opera.

Vanessa Alonso was selected by Mariachi Vargas as the “Best Mariachi Vocalist in the US” back in 1999 during the Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza in San Antonio when she was only 18 years old. Now, at 29, her voice is simply magnificent. Vanessa sings traditional mariachi in the opera, and sings so well, that the Houston Grand Opera (HGO) added to her roll. HGO asked Mariachi Vargas’ musical director, Jose “Pepe” Martinez, Sr., to write her an entire song that was added to the original opera that premiered in Houston at the Wortham Center, Brown Theater, last November.

Continue reading ‘Vanessa Alonso Performs in Paris’

By Jonathan Clark

Miguel Martinez

Few would dispute the fact that 89-year-old maestro Miguel Martínez is the most influential instrumentalist in the history of mariachi music. He not only established the performance standard for the solo mariachi trumpet, but also defined and popularized the two-trumpet mariachi practice. Furthermore, he is a distinguished and prolific author of popular songs and mariachi instrumental standards. But, as the proverb goes, ‘No one is a prophet in his own land,’ and, until quite recently, the Mexican news media virtually ignored Martínez, even though numerous articles about and interviews with him have appeared abroad. (To give an example, he was a principal figure in The History Channel’s recent documentary El Mariachi.)

The Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi was founded in 1994 by the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce. Today, it is the largest mariachi festival in the world, and the one that features the most groups from different countries. When it began, this festival featured seldom-seen, rural, old-style and even indigenous groups in addition to contemporary ensembles, but the participation of the more traditional mariachis was soon almost eliminated. In 2002, to give greater exposure to this undervalued facet of Mexican folklore, Cornelio García of Jalisco’s Secretariat of Popular Culture organized the first Encuentro de Mariachi Tradicional, where one of the basic rules was that participating groups may not include the trumpet. The Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi and the Encuentro Nacional de Mariachi Tradicional were eventually scheduled back-to-back into a two-week celebration of mariachi music. Today, the two encuentros compliment each other magnificently, with the Encuentro Internacional devoted mainly to the commercial aspect and the Encuentro Tradicional mainly to the cultural aspect of mariachi music, although there is considerable overlap.

Continue reading ‘Patriarch of the mariachi trumpet honored in Guadalajara’

Watch the full episode. See more Children of the Revolucion.

Children of the Revolution is a series of stories produced by creative guru’s Lionel and Kathy Sosa for PBS. This particular segment “Music of the Revolution” tells stories about music from the revolution and includes interviews with Juan Tejeda, Dan Guerrero, Dr. Jennifer Speed, Dr. Ricardo Romo and myself. It was an honor to be part of this series and I know mariachimusic.com readers will be especially interested in this excellent piece that includes a segment on mariachi music.

Continue reading ‘Music of the Revolution Captures spirit of mariachi’

Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan arranged a set of beautiful songs that date back from the Mexico Revolucion in Popurri Revolucionario. The songs included in the popurri are El Dorado de Villa, Corrido Villista, El Adios del Soldado, La Valentina, La Adelita and Viva Mexico. These are songs that have been played by musicians for 100 years….songs that I grew up playing as a child more than 30 years ago. It’s so interesting to see young people performing these same songs our grandparents knew but this is the beauty of mariachi music — it’s mutli-generational.

Thanks to Mariachi Vargas for this beautiful arrangement of Popurri Revolucionario and to Nyria Melchor from Dallas who translated the song from Spanish to English. See Spanish lyrics below with English translations.

Continue reading ‘MV’s Popurri Revolucionario is Posted’