Alfonso Reyes looked a bit nervous as he blew the firstnotes on his trumpet for the audition. "Don't worry, be calm, relax,"trumpet teacher Federico Torres told Reyes after he got the beat wrong."Softly now. One, two, three, four..." With the maestro's gentleprodding, the 28-year-old found his groove. Reyes had reason to be a littleanxious during the audition. After all, if he hit the right notes, he would beamong the first students to attend Mexico City's first mariachi school.
For generations, Mexico's mariachis have passed theirpassion down to their children, teaching them how to play classics like"El Rey" or "Cielito Lindo," which they had learned by earfrom their fathers and mothers before them. But the new school in Mexico Citywants to change that by awarding professional degrees, hoping to breathe newlife into the folk bands known for their giant sombreros and "charro"suits adorned with silver buttons. "The school would remove this stigma ofthe mariachi only being good for fiestas or only being known for theirclothes," Reyes said. "It would make mariachis more professional, andperfect the music."
He was among 113 aspiring students, from 12 to 70 years old,who competed for 75 to 85 spots at the school, where they will be learn theright way to play the guitar, acoustic bass, violin, trumpet, harp and theguitar-like vihuela. And of course, they will all learn to sing the mariachiway -- getting that "ay, ay, ay, ay!" cry just right.
While mariachi music dates back to the 19th century, Mexicocounts few schools solely dedicated to the genre. A municipal school openedlast year in Guadalajara, in the western state of Jalisco, the cradle ofmariachi music. Mexico City's Ollin Yoliztli Mariachi School in Garibaldi willopen with a three-year program capped by a "professional techniciandegree." It also plans to offer the country's first university-levelmariachi diploma. "Many musicians seek to improve their technique,"said school director Leticia Soto Flores. "We will do this through Mexicanmusic."
Mariachi music has evolved since the first bands emerged twocenturies ago, beginning with string instruments only before the trumpet wasadded in the 1930s.
