On the heels of Hispanic Heritage Month, Middle School Spanish Teacher Marcela Casco-Lee invited a mariachi band to campus. With her seventh-grade Spanish classes currently studying a unit on Latin American music, she realized that many of her students hadn’t heard of a mariachi band before. Having grown up in Honduras, mariachi bands were a regular part of Casco-Lee’s childhood and life. “You’d see them on the street, give them a tip, and they’ll perform a song,” she explained. “Because mariachi bands are such a part of your life when you live in Latin America, it seems unfathomable that someone could go their whole life and not see one!” Cue Casco-Lee to connect with Los Reyes, a local mariachi band here in St. Louis, that could visit MICDS for the afternoon on Tuesday, November 10.
A mariachi band is a traditional Mexican musical ensemble that plays a distinct style of folk music which combines string and brass instruments with individual members taking turns leading or blending vocal harmonies. Mariachi performances often include el grito (a shout, yell, or cry) to express spontaneous emotions of joy, pride, or heartbreak. “The screaming in mariachi songs can be so out of place for my students and not something that they’re used to,” details Ms. Casco-Lee, “but for Mexicans, it’s not mariachi unless you have that. Many people learn to be really good at that part.”
Mariachi bands originated in the late 1700s in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, and they have evolved into an iconic symbol of Mexican culture. There is also a distinct appearance that goes with mariachi band members. Men typically wear the traditional attire of Mexican cowboys (charros): matching tailored suits with ornate embroidery, trousers, short jackets, boots, wide bow ties, and sombreros. Women wear modified charro suits or folk dresses.
On Tuesday, Los Reyes started out in the Concert Band class of Eric Taylor, Middle School Dean & Band Teacher. The group performed for the class and then allowed students to pick one song that they could perform together for the Middle School assembly. The students picked Feliz Navidad and quickly learned how to play the song’s chorus with instruction and guidance from the mariachi band members and Mr. Taylor. Simultaneously, the band class was observed by Ms. Casco-Lee’s Spanish class for a fun collaboration between Spanish and band.
Next, it was time for the Middle School assembly. After watching a video overview about mariachi bands, Los Reyes started performing for all of our fifth through eighth graders in Mary Eliot Chapel as the curtain rose up to reveal their boisterous, vibrant tune and presence. They played a few songs, including one where each member showed off their particular instrument: violin, trumpet, guitarrón, vihuela, and classical guitar. Since shouts are part of a mariachi band performance, they even invited one student volunteer onstage—Genny M. ’32—to perform the yelling part. Ginny shared, “Doing the ‘shout’ was honestly a blast. It was completely brand new to me, so I was a little nervous at first, but the band made it so welcoming and fun. It really brought the whole room together and made the performance feel so fun! It was definitely a highlight of my week!”
As a surprise to the audience, the Concert Band students joined Los Reyes for their final song, Feliz Navidad. This was a top moment to remember for Braxton L. ’32. “It was a highlight that part of the concert band played in front of the middle school without the whole school knowing beforehand,” he shares. “I learned that it is really hard for mariachi band players to play and sing at the same time while having all of the music memorized.”
Together, the MICDS students and mariachi band members played for the entire Middle School, many of whom also joined in with singing. “One thing that really stuck out to me from this experience was how exciting it was to play along with a group of people who have so much experience in music and mariachi,” reflects Daniel W. ’32. Among many laughs and shouts too, it was an assembly to remember! How fun it was to have Los Reyes visit and bring mariachi music and culture to life.
“I was hoping the students got to see that people have fun in different ways all over the world,” expresses Ms. Casco-Lee. “I hope they could appreciate something different and gain insight into the lives of children who don’t live here.” Not having mariachi bands as part of day-to-day life was first a foreign concept to Ms. Casco-Lee. Beyond movies like Coco, where there’s some exposure to Mexican and Latin American music, she wanted our Rams to experience the music and culture in real life. Mariachi is such a big part of the culture and who these people are.
“For some classmates and teachers,” Casco-Lee adds, “these are their roots. Hopefully, the performance for our Latin American students gave them the chance to show who their family is. I also hope everyone could see the musical beauty of the performance with the mariachi members teaching the band students a song. They are indeed well-practiced musicians.”
Back in seventh-grade Spanish, students are comparing and contrasting different styles of music. They are learning about iconic Latin American musicians. For example, they learned that Selena Gomez is named after Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, the late Queen of Tejano (Tex-Mex) music, which blends Mexican folk sounds with American rock, pop, country, and rhythm & blues sounds. They study a different song each week that helps them target the language topic they’re working on.
What a fun way for students to connect with the Latin American music scene and their compare/contrast vocabulary words. A huge thank you to Ms. Casco-Lee for bringing in the mariachi band and to Los Reyes for their upbeat, engaging performance. Everyone was singing by the time they finished.