DENVER, Colorado — Students have the opportunity to elevate their culture and share it with others as part of a mariachi class at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Many of the students who take the class are also in a club called Los Correcaminos that performs outside of school hours.
"The thing with mariachi is that it comes from such a deep part of our culture," William Trevizo, a senior at MSU Denver, said.
Trevizo found his passion for mariachi music at a young age. His dad was a mariachi in Mexico. When they moved to Colorado, his dad decided to make his own mariachi band, Mariachi Águila. At the time, Trevizo was learning how to play the violin, and he joined the ensemble with his father.
"Music, in general, is a thing that really allows for everyone to connect, really it’s a language without words," Trevizo said.
Trevizo originally wanted to pursue a career as a paramedic. When he started to play more gigs as a mariachi, he saw how the music moved people both in happy settings and more somber ones.
"They start dancing. You could go to a wedding, people dancing to a love song," Trevizo said. "Even funerals, there are people crying to our music, and even if it’s not the best music, it’s still very honorable to see how our music is really connecting to everyone."
As mariachi has gained popularity in the United States, Trevizo has taken it as an opportunity to share his passion with others who are just now growing familiar with the style.
"It’s really an honor to see young people like something that I’m so passionate about," Trevizo said. "Something that came from my culture, that it's not even from this country and people in this country, falling in love with it. Because you see people from all types of diversity learning mariachi, not just Mexican people. You see everyone just wanting to play and enjoying the music."
Trevizo is also part of Los Correcaminos with the group most recently playing a performance in Leadville.
"This is my favorite time of the week, my favorite class of the week," Renée Whitney-Rivera said. "I love coming to mariachi. I love getting to work with these people. A lot of the members of mariachi are also in the symphony orchestra here so we just kind of banded together a little bit, and it’s just really nice having that community here."
Whitney-Rivera plays violin and was first introduced to the class through her violin instructor, who also directs the mariachi program. Because her family is from the Dominican Republic, she grew up listening to mariachi music herself as well as other forms of Latin music.
"Especially like Latino culture in general, we share a lot of values, a lot of different senses of community and stuff like that," Whitney-Rivera said. "So, when I am with the mariachi groups that I play in, I feel right at home. It feels very familiar to me. It feels very comfortable to me."
As a future music educator, Whitney-Rivera knows a class like this is important to ensure students feel seen while making sure their cultures are represented.
"Mariachi education is really important because I think every student deserves to play music that they enjoy and music that they feel comfortable with and they feel centered with," Whitney-Rivera said.