ASU creates Mariachi course and partners with local Latinos

By Ruben Hernandez

November 13 is an historic day for the Arizona State University School of Music, Rosie’s House, and the Latino community.

This is the day that Rosie’s House and the ASU School of Music celebrate their launch of the new Mariachi Training Program for 50 Phoenix youth – the majority of which are Hispanic.

A special reception takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Arizona Latino Arts & Cultural Center, 147 E. Adams St. in downtown Phoenix. Many Latino community leaders will attend, and the public is invited. To RSVP for the event visit Rosie’s House at www.rosieshouse.org or call (602) 252-8475.

The evening will feature a presentation by Jeff Nevin, ASU Adjunct Professor in Mariachi and curriculum consultant for Rosie’s House, performances by mariachis, and more information about the new Mariachi Training Program for Phoenix Youth.

The program is supported in part by a grant from Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. Phoenix-area middle school and high school students will audition to participate in the training program on violin, trumpet, guitar, vihuela and guitarron and there will be 3 ensembles for a total of fifty students.

However, there is a bigger story of how ASU School of how School of Music Director Kimberly Marshall, and a team of ASU Latino professors, community members worked together to bring Jeff Nevin, a world-class mariachi performer and the only Ph.D. in mariachi music, to teach at ASU in the 2012-13 school year. Nevin is a former member of Los Changuitos Feos youth mariachi group in Tucson, and founded a mariachi group at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California.

In April of 2011, Marshal met with a small group of Latino professors at Barrio Café, owned by award-winning chef Silvana Salcido Esparza, an advocate for mariachi music at ASU. The professors are Carlos Velez-Ibanez, director of the ASU School of Transborder Studies, Carlos Castillo-Chavez, professor of mathematical biology, and Paul Espinosa, professor and filmmaker at the School of Transborder Studies.

This dedicated group’s vision was to create a mariachi/border music program at ASU that would be one of the best in the U.S., drawing serious music students to ASU from all over the world. The courses now are being taught at the School of Music and the Transborder Studies department. Their successful strategy was a gain for the Latino community.

The second part of the vision was to have this respected professor of mariachi help local schools and community nonprofits like Rosie’s House develop mariachi programs. These mariachi programs would celebrate the cultural diversity of Phoenix, as well as become points of pride for our local Latino community. A Latino-relevant music program also provides a path for local Latino students to attend and graduate from ASU.

Nevin is creating the curriculum and artistic goals of the program.  “I am excited to work with Rosie’s House in building a tuition-free Mariachi Training program in Phoenix. There is tremendous potential and musical talent here locally, and I know we can build a high-quality program that will be a source of pride for Phoenix,” said Nevin. 

Rosie’s House parents are delighted by the launch of the new program. Rebecca Ibarra, a parent of a guitar student, is excited her son will have this unique opportunity. “For my family, for my children, it’s a way for them to learn and understand their history,” said Ibarra.

Becky Bell, Rosie’s House executive director, urges parents who want to enroll their children in the Phoenix music academy to contact her organization for further information.

With its new mariachi/border music instructor and curriculum, Arizona State University has made a big commitment to becoming a positive community partner with Latinos in the Valley. 

 About Rosie’s House

Rosie’s House: A Music Academy for Children was founded in 1996 to give children from low-income families the chance to experience music in their lives. The academy provides free music instruction and loaned instruments to underserved Phoenix-area students. Through music Rosie’s House inspires social change and helps students develop a commitment to personal and academic achievement. For more information about the non-profit organization, visit www.rosieshouse.org.