So many times I have seen an elementary school kid enrolled in the Davis Bilingual summer mariachi camp watching Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School at a Friday showcase concert and saying to his or her parents, “Some day I want to be part of that group.

 

Aztlán’s crisp precision, sharp look and flawless blend is a natural draw for kids to aspire to, as are many of Tucson’s top high school age mariachi programs. And year after year you see some of those kids who were pointing at Aztlán on stage and saying,” That’s going to be me” actually getting to do it.

 

Among my favorite things to film is Aztlán’s rehearsals for graduation, for a lot of reasons. First because it speaks so powerfully of the school and its community that the mariachi is the group performing at graduation. It shows the pride this 99 percent Mexican American school has in its culture and in the musical and other accomplishments of these young men and women.

 

 

But for me it’s about those little kids aspiring to become members of Aztlán, because at these rehearsals that’s what’s happening. This is when the new recruits, themselves just graduating from middle school, are being welcomed into the group and groomed to play Pomp and Circumstance, Las Golondrinasand all the rest that they will perform for the Pueblo Class of 2018 at the graduation ceremony this Thursday.

The atmosphere is not one of hazing but of welcoming and camaraderie. Seniors often pair off with the new members to share technical tips one-on-one and generally show new members what daily life in Aztlán is like. It’s hard work but it’s a lot of fun too. And in this first session they get to rub shoulders with their new best friends in the world.

Another reason I love this session so much is the opportunity to watch director John Contreras is action and to see how quickly he and his young musicians turn a song into a sculpted piece of music.

In the clip above you see all of this taking place. At approximately 2:19 the rehearsal proper resumes, and Contreras shapes the playing to give it a musical richness it lacked before. In just a few minutes the bones of a solid performance are put into place.

For five years now I have taped this session, last year seeing the first young woman I taped on her opening day with the group (Yasmine Durazo, now a music major at the University of Arizona) pick up her own diploma. This year five will graduate, and I have seen these young men and women grow in maturity, musical prowess, community leadership and athletic and scholastic accomplishment for four years. I’ve seen them horsing around on the road between gigs and putting the glow in the eyes of young kids who had never seen musicianship of this caliber in front of school and community audiences in Tucson and beyond. I traveled to San Francisco twice with these members and watched them take in new experiences many their age will never know. There is not one of these soon-to-be-graduates who I wouldn’t personally endorse for anything they wanted to take on. They are excellent people.

 

 

So as I watch them working with the new members I can’t help but think back to their first day and all that has gone on since, knowing that this is the path these new kids are on, and knowing where it will take them. It is an exciting thing to see.

 

There are so many things that the Pueblo program does right. How new members come to the group is a very professional process. Like for a symphony orchestra, the new recruits go through a blind audition. They play behind a curtain with no one on the panel of judges knowing who is performing, or even if they are male or female during the instrumental portion. They are chosen on musical merit alone, and put to a high standard to get there. When you make it into Aztlán no one can claim you got there because you knew somebody. And the expectation is that you will represent the group, the school and the community with that same standard of excellence in music making, scholastic achievement and citizenship.

This has been the case since Aztlán founder Richard Carranza – now Chancellor of Schools in the largest school district in America in New York City – set standards for how the group would function back in the early 1990s. And while successive teachers have put their own stamp on things, they stand on the shoulders of a giant.

 

One of the other Aztlán traditions I love most took place a couple of weeks ago at the group’s final recital. There, surrounded by family and friends, and with other groups whose members were about to join Aztlán, they played a last, glorious showcase of the music they so expertly learned. Part of the ceremony calls the seniors up to the stage, one by one, with their parents who present each graduate with an individual shadow box of photos from their time with the group. It’s the first time the graduates have seen them, and is often a very emotional moment. Director John Contreras talks about each member and shares stories of their individual journeys.

 

And now this Thursday those five graduates will don the cap and gown and make the circuit of the track to the cheers of family and friends in the bleachers, while Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High and its new recruits play Pomp and Circumstance. They will hear the speeches and moments of recognition, and take the stage themselves, first to accept their diplomas and then one last official time to playLas Golondrinas withAztlán at the ceremony’s close.

 

In a sea of caps, gowns and tassels and a flood of family and friends onto the field, a tsunami of hugs, posing for photos and goodbyes will close the evening as the graduates head off into the world and the new Aztlán members fill their ranks.

 

It’s a beautiful sight to behold, and something I treasure more each year.

Congratulations to the class of 2018!