At the Tucson International Mariachi Conference’s Espectacular concert in May, 2022, Mayor Regina Romero dedicated the Tucson Convention Center’s music hall to singer Linda Ronstadt.
A native of Tucson, Ronstadt is one of the foremost musical performers of the 20th century and beyond, known for her country rock recordings as well as recordings of American standards, jazz, pop, contemporary classical music, musicals and more.
In Tucson she is especially revered not just as a favorite daughter of the city but as the creator of the largest selling mariachi ranchera recordings in history – Canciones de Mi Padre and Mas Canciones. Those recordings and her tours with Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano and folklorico dancers inspired generations of young mariachi performers and helped stimulate the explosion of youth mariachis in her home city. Moreover it catalyzed the creation of curriculum based mariachi music programs in the Tucson Unified School District.
The dedication ceremony featured speeches about her importance to the musical world and the people of Tucson, as well as performances of Ronstadt ranchera classics. But the capper that brought the house down was Giselle Aubrey of Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School performing Ronstadt’s hit Blue Bayou. Ronstadt was exiting the stage when the song started, stopped to hear the performance and sang along with Aubrey from the wings.
The entire dedication ceremony is here presented uncut from start to finish, courtesy of Daniel Buckley Productions LLC and The Mariachi Miracle.
The film The Mariachi Miracle will include clips from the ceremony with Aubrey sharing what Ronstadt said to her during and following the performance, and her own reaction to the experience.
The film will receive a sneak preview at Tucson’s Fox Theater on August 14, 2022. Tickets go on sale this week.
A reminder that The Mariachi Miracle still needs financial support to wrap the film, do color and audio corrections, pay royalties for use of the music and get the film and subsequent book of the same title out into the world for inclusion in film and book festivals nationally and abroad. To become part of that please check out the Support The Mariachi Miracle tab above.
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