Viva Mariachi

 Mariachi Luz de Oro de UC Berkeley

Berkeley, CA 

Mariachi Luz de Oro participated in Napa Valley College's inaugural Viva Mariachi Festival in 2019. The student-run mariachi has grown since then and are pleased to be returning to Napa Valley College.  

Established in 2013, Mariachi Luz de Oro is a musical group performing traditional and modern mariachi music. Their mission is to promote musical and cultural diversity by increasing exposure to the Mexican art form of mariachi. 

Since 2019 when they participated in the ¡Viva Mariachi! Festival, the group has grown from 14 members to over 30 and they aspire to continue growing to have a long-lasting group that influences the lives of the youth in the community for the better, and to increase the musical and multicultural awareness of students, staff, and community members.

The group has performed at several charitable and private events in the Bay Area and has also hosted its own community celebration events. This group is now composed of members from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. 

Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School

Tucson, AZ

The award winning Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School was founded in the Fall of 1992 as a curricular component within the Pueblo Magnet High School Performing Arts Department. Celebrating their 27th anniversary this year, they are comprised entirely of Pueblo Magnet High School students ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old. The mariachi program has grown from eleven students in its first year to well over one hundred and thirty students currently. Students are offered three levels of mariachi music: Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced/Performing group – “Mariachi Aztlán ”. Students entering the performing group must, after audition and acceptance, maintain a high level of academic achievement in order to remain on the “first team”. Their extensive practice and performance schedule also demands most of their free time. The twenty-two-piece Mariachi Aztlán is motivated by pride and dedication to their cultural heritage of Mexico.
The group plays authentic mariachi music, arranged and conducted by teacher and director, John Contreras, himself a mariachi musician with over thirty years of experience. Dressed in their elaborate traje de charro outfits, the group boasts a repertoire of traditional mariachi music.
As Tucson’s most popular youth mariachi, they have gained a reputation for excellence, sharing the stage with many of the world’s finest Mariachi ensembles, Symphony Orchestras and world-renowned artists like Pink Martini, Rufus Wainwright III, Calexico and Rita Moreno. Through their music, they are continuously promoting a manifest pride in their cultural background and are an excellent example of the best our youth has to offer.

Mariachi Las Mariposas from Garfield High School

East Los Angeles, CA

Founded in 2021, Mariachi Las Mariposas is an all-female ensemble of 12 young women.

Notable upcoming performances include being the opening act on August 18, 2024, for the anniversary celebration of Mariachi Divas, the internationally acclaimed all-female professional mariachi group from Los Angeles. 

Mariachi Las Mariposas embodies empowerment, beauty, elegance, and grace. Their presence challenges traditional gender roles and showcases the diversity within mariachi music

This group is led by teacher and mariachi director, Guillermo Gonzalez.