CHICAGO (CBS) –A Mexican music tradition has captured the hearts of many cultures around the world.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, CBS News Chicago spotlighted an educator who is teaching the next generation of mariachis.
For those who grew up playing in their high school band, they know it can be a fun and formative experience. But at one Chicago public school, there’s a special credited class that has extra meaning for current and former student musicians.
On a recent Tuesday, the class at Benito Juarez Community Academy in Pilsen packed into a classroom where they learned much more than just music.
The class is mariachi, and the teacher is Michael Espinosa. His goal is to teach the songs and traditions that have shaped Mexican culture and more. It’s easy for him because his personal history feels like it’s part of every note.
“Mariachi is a family tradition,” he said.
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Growing up in the American Southwest, Espinosa begged his guitar-playing father for an oboe, but they decided to go with something else.
“I remember going to those band auditions in sixth grade and thinking, ‘Man, I really want to play trumpet so I can be in the mariachi,’” he said.
Unfortunately, there was only the traditional school band to keep him busy, and it wasn’t until high school that he got the chance to join Marie Curie’s mariachi club.
Espinosa has worked as a mariachi teacher for the past 18 years, including leading the groundbreaking student group at Juarez High School.
“It’s fun to be able to watch these kinds of programs and I’m very happy to be able to do a lot of them here,” said Espinosa.
His mariachi class is taken for credit and is an after-school program. There are practices and performances in the community that students engage with in familiar ways.
“I recognize the joy, the frustration, the fatigue,” he said. “It’s a huge commitment to play an instrument.”
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It is also an opportunity for young musicians to express themselves.
“For me it is very important to share the culture,” said Jimena, one of the students.
They said they also grew personally.
“Mariachi has made me more social with people, more active and less likely to suffer from stage fright,” Guadalupe said.
They can also move people.
“I remember playing songs that made people emotional, so that’s what I like to do,” Monse said.
For all these reasons, the size of the mariachi classes has grown, and Espinosa wants the group to do the same, performing at events like Fiesta del Sol.
“There are all kinds of companies in Pilsen that we’d like to connect with and in the Chicago area,” Espinosa said. “We want to be able to say, ‘Hey, these kids are doing great things here. Come check them out.'”
They hope to inspire the next generation of little trumpeters to study and share the rich tradition.
The music doesn’t stop for Espinoa when the school bell rings for Benito Juarez. He also teaches in the After School Matters program, is the lead instructor for the Chicago Mariachi Project, and is a lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Theatre and Music.
Marie Saavedra
