Tuesday, November 27, 2007

El Centro College student vying for Best Mariachi Singer title

By Marisa Treviño of Latina Lista

El Centro College student and mariachi singer Rubén Luna

For a mariachi musician, there is no greater honor than to be judged exemplary by the “world’s best mariachi” institution, the 110-year-old, Mexico City-based Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán.

So we can only imagine how nervous El Centro College student Rubén Luna will be when he appears before some of the famed members of the mariachi group who will judge him in the “Best Mariachi Singer in the United States” category in this weekend’s San Antonio student competition at the 13th Annual Mariachi Music Festival.

Rubén, 23-years-old, credits his father, Alfredo, with instilling a love of mariachi music in him from the time he was a young boy in Aguascalientes, Mexico. At the age of 12, he and his family came to the United States and it wasn’t too long thereafter that he decided to immerse himself in studying mariachi music.

Rubén has been singing mariachi for five years and doesn’t consider it just a hobby — but a career with a future.

“Mariachi music gives (Hispanic) students a sense of identity and it takes their minds off what’s happening in the streets, and also enriches their lives,” said Cesar Anguiano, volunteer director of DISD's only mariachi program housed at Molina High School, as well as, Rubén’s mentor.

Anguiano, a professional mariachi player for the last six years, is in his first year at Molina High School as a teacher and new volunteer director of the program that so far has 11 student mariachis.

Yet, barely finishing his first semester with the program, Anguiano is frustrated with how little the district supports the mariachi program. It’s something that doesn’t make sense to him.

“This is my first experience in a school district,” said Anguiano. “I’m getting to see a lot of what the kids are going through in school. Some are working 30-40 hours a week plus coming to school to help with their families’ bills. The school is on them to keep their grades up but they don’t realize that by having a mariachi program, kids who are in it, can make good money, stay in school and keep their grades up.”

Anguiano says that though the mariachi program is demanding — 3-4 hours of rehearsals every day — for those students serious about doing it, they can earn decent money while still in high school and not have to look for work that will keep them from doing homework or attending school.

He cites one student who is a junior at Adamson high school who plays with Anguiano’s professional mariachi troupe and is already earning up to $600 for just a few days of work playing in local restaurants.

As Anguiano sees it, it’s a win-win situation for students and DISD if more schools had mariachi programs. He said he was disappointed when the district cut the program at Adamson High School last semester.

“I’ve seen kids transfer from one school to another just for the mariachi program,” said Anguiano.

In fact, Anguiano said that kids call him up all the time wanting to learn mariachi but have no place to go to learn it. For Anguiano and other professional mariachi players who want to share the craft with students, it’s difficult to coordinate a meeting time and can be costly since students need instruments, as well as, the traditional mariachi trajes (suits).

Luckily for Rubén, Anguiano was there to help him develop as a mariachi singer to the point that Rubén was selected as a finalist in this weekend’s prestigious contest.

Since El Centro doesn’t have a college mariachi program, Rubén is being sponsored by Molina High School’s mariachi program and Aguiano’s troupe Mariachi America.

Some money was scraped together by the two organizations to help pay for Rubén’s registration and travel expenses. He will be going to San Antonio with Anguiano and the official director of the Molina High School mariachi program.

Rubén is the only student from North Texas to make the finals. He will be competing against some of the top schools in the nation that have mariachi programs, like Harvard (yes, that Harvard).

“In my professional opinion as a mariachi, I think Rubén can place in the top 3. At the worst, he’ll place in the top 5. He’s that good,” said Anguiano.

But for Rubén, mariachi music is more than just the competition:

“It’s a symbol and dignified representation of a culture that is so rich and so beautiful that I feel a personal responsibility and honor to be a part of a tradition so beautiful in bringing mariachi songs to the public.”

Rubén competes on Saturday morning, the last day of the week-long event being held at San Antonio’s Municipal Auditorium. The festival will be capped off with a concert Saturday night performed by Mariachi Vargas.

Pegasus News content partner: Latina Lista. You can find the main site for Latina Lista, which includes national news and views, podcasts, the store and more here.

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