Pima Group School had not provided mariachi lessons for greater than a decade — till a former PCC pupil and music teacher Don Fuentes despatched an e-mail to Steven Higginbotham, who was the humanities dean, in summer season 2021.
“I did not count on a response however he received again to me in an hour and we began speaking,” Fuentes stated. “I knew I wished to work at Pima School.”
Fuentes is a mariachi instructor at Pistor Center College on the Southwest Aspect, and he felt it was vital for PCC to have a mariachi program once more for younger musicians who would graduate highschool and wish to proceed to hone their craft.
He was capable of reintroduce the musical kind to PCC with Mariachi I, a one-credit ensemble class, which opened in August 2022. A few doezen college students have been welcomed into the brand new course. Music 124 Mariachi II opened this spring.
“A minimum of 4 of them performed collectively at Sunnyside Excessive College,” Fuentes stated. “I have been pleasantly shocked by how the 28-year-olds get together with the 18-year-olds.”
Mariachi Azteca will likely be performing on the Tucson Worldwide Mariachi Convention. Whereas they’ve performed at completely different occasions on the school, their largest efficiency is developing on April 20 at 6 p.m. on the Linda Ronstadt Music Corridor.
They’re a part of the lineup for the Armando C. Gonzales Pupil Showcase. The expertise main as much as the occasion has fed Fuentes’ ardour.
“My favourite half is attending to know the scholars, serving to them work by means of their weaknesses, see their strengths,” Fuentes stated. “And so they get to construct relationships with one another. I’ve seen them get collectively exterior of sophistication to observe.”
Fuentes stated he feels the brand new mariachi lessons at PCC are a means to assist native musicians, and provides college students one thing to look ahead to after highschool is over.
Thursday, April 20 at 6 p.m., Mariachi Azteca will step on the stage for the showcase of their new black and blue trajes. Tickets are $15 and may be bought at Ticketmaster or on the TCC field workplace.