¡Viva el Mariachi!
FOR A MOMENT AFTER THE EDCOUCH-ELSA High School mariachi ensemble plays the final notes of “La Petenera,” no one moves. The music seems to linger in the air of the brightly painted cinder block practice room. Then the seven violin players, who’ve all raised their bows with a flourish, slowly lower them to their sides. Everyone takes a breath and looks expectantly toward their head director, Marcos Garcia, who’s checking his watch.
“Nine fifty-seven,” Garcia announces, looking up. Too close. The University Interscholastic League (UIL) State Mariachi Festival, where the ensemble will perform tomorrow, has a strict 10-minute time limit. Edcouch-Elsa’s Mariachi Juvenil Azteca is one of the best in the state. The group can’t risk disqualification for going over the time limit, which would dash the students’ hopes of attaining a coveted Division 1 rating for the fifth year in a row.
Garcia claps his hands. “Let’s pick it up and make faster transitions between songs. You’ve got to give it more energy. Remember: musicality. Expression. Interpretation. Feeling. Let’s get it down to 9:45.”
The 17 students who will perform in the festival take their places. They’re the most dedicated and musically accomplished among the 24 members of the varsity class, for which hopefuls—even upperclassmen who’ve been in the group before—must audition. Senior Nathania Flores, the violin section leader, turns to face her colleagues, making eye contact with each one. She takes a quick, audible breath and then, tapping her foot, slices the bow of her violin through the air: 1, 2. On the next beat, the group begins to play.
The festival kicks off later this morning at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) in Edinburg, and play their best material before a panel of judges from the academic and professional worlds. It’s only the festival’s second year as a fully sanctioned event organized by the UIL, the statewide organization that governs public school sports as well as academic, music, and theater contests. The UIL’s decision to make the event official was a reflection—and an endorsement—of mariachi’s growing popularity and influence in Texas high schools.
