Mariachi Music as a Pathway to Higher Education in the United States

Abstract

Considered the national musical symbol of Mexico, mariachi music has become a transnational genre that is now popular worldwide. In 2012, mariachi music made UNESCO'S Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which helped to launch the first mariachi school in Mexico City. However, in the United States, the popularity of mariachi music since the 1960s has given rise to the following American innovations that have had a deep impact on the development of the tradition: the academic mariachi movement, the rise of mariachi festivals, and the fledgling sheet music/method book publishing industry. Inextricably linked to education and diversity, each aspect of the American mariachi tradition represents a unique way in which this traditional musical art form can be understood as a model for community empowerment.