MSU Denver Launches Colorado’s First Mariachi Major

If you wander the halls of the Arts Building on MSU Denver’s Auraria Campus on a Thursday evening, you’ll likely hear the sound of violins bowing with intensity, trumpets ringing out bold melodies and guitars and vihuelas strumming in rhythm.

Follow the music to Room 293, where the university’s Mariachi ensemble gathers each week. Inside, students practice classics like “Camino de Guanajuato,” honing their craft and preparing to share the rich tradition of Mexican folk music with audiences across the city.

“I have always loved Mariachi since I was little,” said Ashley Irvine, the violinist in the Mariachi ensemble at MSU Denver. “My mom always played it around the house. I never considered playing Mariachi until I started going to school here. It’s been a really beautiful experience, and it’s just fun to make music with my friends.” 

But Mariachi is about more than performing folk songs in a “traje de charro” (charro suit). It also means understanding the tradition’s history, singing in its language, learning how to build a group as a business, and, above all, mastering the music itself. At MSU Denver, students can study all of these elements through the Mariachi major, overseen by Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Philip Ficsor.

“I think if there was a word that drove my focus (when designing the degree), it was relevancy,” Ficsor said. “I think it’s really important to not just play Mariachi but to contextualize it historically and culturally. (It is important) to understand what the role of Mariachi plays at different points in the development of the culture here in this country.” 

MSU Denver is the first Colorado university to offer a Mariachi major. The individualized degree program pulls different coursework from different degrees. For example, some courses offered as part of the Mariachi degree are Chicano studies, Spanish, History and business. 

“It draws from different departments,” Ficsor said. “So when our students leave, I want them to be able to step into someone’s living room or quinceañera or a backyard or in a great concert hall and feel comfortable. Like ‘I’m prepared for this.’ That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Samuel Leon, a 19-year-old sophomore, is a student currently majoring in Mariachi at MSU Denver. He believes the program is setting him up to succeed as a professional Mariachi musician. 

“In my school in Pueblo, there wasn’t a band; there was only a Mariachi program, and I fell in love with it,” Leon said. “So, it was an easy choice when I heard (about the major) and furthering my education. I was even thinking of going to Texas or California to study Mariachi, so as soon as I heard that it was near home, it was a no-brainer.” 

Leon started playing the guitar at a very young age, but it wasn’t until middle school that he picked up the “vihuela” (smaller guitar) and fell in love with the sound. 

“I’d always liked playing the guitar,” Leon said. “I don’t want to say I was forced to play the vihuela, but I was forced to play because (I told myself) ‘You already know how to play guitar, so learn the vihuela next.’ I just fell in love with the vihuela.” 

Since moving to Denver, Leon has been performing his vihuela with the MSU Mariachi ensemble in class and during their gigs around the city. Leon is proud to further his education in Mariachi.

“It’s super important because I really enjoy it and “me da mucho orgullo” (I feel really proud) to be able to represent my culture in a way that not a lot of people get this opportunity,” Leon said. “I’ve always liked Mariachi; I grew up singing with my mom with dance groups, and both of my parents were very happy for me.” 

He adds that being in the individualized program is helping him take his skills to the next level and getting him prepared post-graduation. “I think it’s helping a lot,” Leon said. “There’s a lot that goes into Mariachi. For example, the business courses help us understand how to manage and form a group from a [business standpoint]. I see it more as it’s just giving me more tools.” 

Another student, Brayan Alpizar Salinas, is currently taking courses offered in the individualized program, but technically, he still hasn’t declared his major. However, the junior shared that if he continues to do well in the courses, he will declare his major in Mariachi. 

“I joined the Mariachi club in middle school after I started playing in the orchestra,” he said. “Once I graduated high school, I knew MSU had a Mariachi class/club and I knew I wanted to continue doing music. My parents grew up listening to older songs, and Mariachi music has so many different songs that (represent) different things. For example, the songs we play make us happy, or some songs are sad or romantic, and they all represent my family, so that’s also why I wanted to continue to play my violin and Mariachi music.”

Lorenzo Trujillo, who started teaching the Mariachi ensemble back in 2015 when it became an accredited music course and is now the artistic director of Mariachi Education at MSU Denver, also got involved with Mariachi because of his family.

“I started as a kid,” Trujillo said. “I was following my aunt, and we actually used to play here at the St. Cajetan’s, and I started playing at the Mariachi masses. Then I studied in Mexico City, and I have been playing ever since. (Mariachi) is joyous, it’s passionate, it tells a story. It’s the community. It’s stories of light and love … I just love teaching students; they’re youthful. I’m in my latter 70s, so I get a kick out of hearing and being with them.” 

Not all of the students involved in the Mariachi ensemble are majoring in it, but rather are doing it for the love they have for the music. One of these students is Matthew Vargas, a sophomore whose main instrument is piano, who is currently majoring in Music Education. He mostly plays the vihuela when he performs with the Mariachi ensemble. 

“I feel like if I knew more about it, then maybe I would have majored in it too,” Vargas said. “To try and do another music degree on top of a music degree that already deals with a tough and competitive environment, I would want to know that this Mariachi degree will benefit me.” 

Still, even though he’s not majoring in Mariachi, Vargas plays in the ensemble because it matters to him that the tradition lives on.

“I love Mariachi because of the music. It’s just so much fun. We have heard it our whole lives, like our dads have been playing all this music since we were little kids,” Vargas said. “I think as music majors, that’s what we do: we try to take all the stuff that we like and all the stuff that we enjoyed and then understand it better and understand it deeper, and to be a part of it and just fulfill that. As a Latino, it matters to me that our music is being played in the States.” 

Currently, just two students are majoring in Mariachi, but Ficsor anticipates that there will be more students in the coming semesters. 

“We announced [the major] late before the semester started, and so it was a mess,” Ficsor said. “But now there’s a ton of interest and I see it growing.”

As the final hour of class unfolded, Trujillo guided the ensemble through stirring Mariachi standards, their voices and instruments rising in unison. With each song, they carried the words of their ancestors and kept their families’ traditions alive. Irvine and Alpizar Salinas drove the violins forward while Leon’s vihuela strummed steadily beneath them, weaving the ensemble into one powerful sound.

“I’m excited to further my musical ability to a point where I can teach or pass on knowledge,” Leon said. “I am hopeful that the experiences and becoming a better musician will give me bigger gigs. Every day I get to share my culture is a blessing, and the degree can help me do that on a bigger scale.”