CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE

AUTO-ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSICAL RECITAL:

FINDING MY CHICANA SOUL IN THE LANGUAGES OF MY VIOLIN

A graduate thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the degree of Master of Arts

in Chicano and Chicana Studies

By

Kenya Garay

May 2019 The graduate project of Kenya Garay is approved:

______Dr. Mary Pardo Date

______Dr. Christina Ayala-Alcantar Date

______Dr. Peter J. Garcia, Chair Date

California State University, Northridge.

ii Table of Contents

Signature Page ii

Abstract iv

Introduction 1

Development of Mariachi 11

Contribution to Chicano Studies 20

Performance Setting 21

Reflection 23

Musical Recital and Song Explanations 25

Musical Recital Photographs 31

Musical Recital Brochure 32

Creative Project Portfolio Images 34

Bibliography 37

iii Abstract

Finding My Chicana Soul in the Languages of My Violin

By

Kenya Garay

Master of Arts in Chicana and Chicano Studies

This auto-ethnographic work consists of my journey through my violin and how my instrument helped me unpack what it means to be Chicana. Learning and playing the violin helped me find my voice as a new way of expressing myself, but it also brought me closer to my Mexican culture. While residing in Tustin, California in 1991, we were one of the few Mexican families in the area. I always felt like something was missing because I had no one to connect with or speak Spanish with. In my musical journey, I began playing mariachi music at a young age and continue to do now. In this creative project, you will find photos of my journey and learn how I became part of multiple mariachi ensembles. I argue for another meaning to the word Chicana through my mariachi experience. Also included in this work is the written script of my auto- ethnographic musical recital where I pick songs that have importance to my musical upbringing. My creative performance was meant to show how the violin helped me find my voice in the two “languages,” the mariachi and classical voices, which also helped me find my Chicana soul.

iv Introduction

[violin playing G.F. Handel’s “Bourrée”]

Hey! I haven’t seen you in a long time, wanna go get some coffee?

[Walks over to coffee shop]

Why did I start playing the violin? Oh…well that’s easy.

Before I start, I have to explain that I was born with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome which has partly affected the way I speak. I was enrolled in speech classes since I began school and having a speech impediment has always led to this frustration of having to consistently and consistently repeat myself. It felt like people would always whisper in each other’s ear with, “What did she say? We can hardly understand her.” It was irksome and lowered my self-esteem. You could say that having this speech impediment was one reason my voice was taken away.

In fourth grade, my cousin, also nine years old began playing the violin at Rosita

Elementary School. Since we had grown up together at my grandma’s house we shared a lot of the same interests. Needless to say, I wanted to play the violin as well. Initially, my mom was hesitant with this idea because every time she signed me up for an extracurricular activity, she would have to remove me because I never made any progress. This is the reason why I could never achieve my childhood dream of being a ballerina and I only lasted in soccer for about a year. It took two years to convince my mom to let me join the orchestra once I started middle school. She finally gave in after finding out that the orchestra class was going to be a part of the school curriculum. I remember my first day of middle school in 2002 at Pioneer Middle School in Tustin, California. My sixth-grade music teacher, Mr. Fischer was very welcoming to new students in his class. With this, I started playing violin with high hopes to be good at something…but you know…I had to play songs like this….

1 [violin playing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”] Pretty funny huh?

The next year I was placed in the advanced orchestra class based on my ability to pick up the standards of note reading and play challenging compositions. Mr. Fischer determined where

I would be seated according to my ability to play the violin. I remember I was placed in the second to last row of the third violin section where we would be known as the weakest link in the orchestra. I did not think it bothered me because I had just started playing so I knew there was a valid reason for why I “sucked.” However, this did not stop me from playing.

Every year I improved more and more and being in the orchestra at the high school level allowed me to travel to places for the first time without my parents. I got to perform in New York at Carnegie Hall in 2007 and 2009! Did you know that the Beatles performed there too? I mean,

I still was not the best player in the chamber orchestra, but knowing that I had the potential to be in the orchestra that was known nationwide made a huge difference to my self-esteem. I attended

Beckman High School in Irvine, California, where all my classmates took private lessons on the side because they could afford it. In contrast, I was sometimes lucky to find private space to practice at home, so I was happy I was considered to be up to par with my more privileged classmates. The performances in Carnegie Hall made me understand that music is a universal language and I would never have to repeat myself every time I played. The only reason I would have to repeat myself is through an encore. It was during this time where I began finding my voice through my violin.

Now let me begin to tell you the story of my other violin voice. At the end of my seventh- grade year, in 2004, my mom saw an article in the O.C. Register announcing mariachi classes to children and teens of all ages in Anaheim, California. My mom asked me if I wanted to check it out. I was not really interested to try it out, but I was open to the idea. I continued the mariachi

2 classes weekly and after I started memorizing songs, I began performing with the other students in the class. In the mariachi classes, I felt like I belonged, I felt as if I found a new type of passion, and I found a mariachi voice.

Little did I know that I would eventually have to stop playing classical music after high school because of the restrictions in college orchestras to only music majors. However, I continued playing and performing mariachi music in the same mariachi school in Anaheim. I actually continue playing to this day in a different ensemble. Playing mariachi also allowed me to travel, meet new people my age, and network with those who also play mariachi. In 2009, I went to a national mariachi conference in Tucson, Arizona where I was with about 200 youth my age who also play and perform mariachi music. Unlike at Pioneer Middle School and Beckman

High School where other students did not want to talk to me because I was perceived as, “that weird and annoying girl that was hard to understand,” the people I met at mariachi conferences genuinely wanted to get to know who I was because we shared the same interests. The

“mariachi” voice led me to find my voice, have confidence, and empower myself. It was through the mariachi voice where I was also able to embrace my Mexican-ness and be proud of my culture, something that I had no place to do outside my home because I had no one who shared a similar culture in my K-12 school years. Performing the violin in a mariachi band has made me feel and connect more with my Mexican roots and ultimately to being Chicana.

Although performing mariachi music may be a tedious thing I have to do every weekend,

I realized that without the violin I would not be in the place I am now. Without musical ability, without experiences, without relationships. Who knew that the girl who few could hardly understand found two new ways of speaking as well as two new musical abilities that put her at an advantage over a significant amount of people which essentially led to her acceptance to

3 UCLA. The violin has opened doors to explore different ways of expression and I have learned that each way is just as valid as the other.

Hey, do you want to hear the latest thing that I’ve been working on? [violin playing mariachi ensemble piece of La Negra]

The above passage represents a short monologue that I wrote in a graduate studies performance class based on one of the most life-changing events in my life. I titled it “Looking for a Voice and Finding Two.” The event I chose for this monologue was how my violin allowed me to be accepted into my dream school, UCLA. However, once the monologue was over, I found out the event that changed my life was not my acceptance to college. It was the moment I picked up the violin for the first time and the way that everything slowly fell into place after that. Playing the violin has allowed me to gain multiple experiences, have unforgettable memories, added countless friendships, and most importantly allowed me to find the missing connection of my Mexican heritage. With this creative project, I demonstrate through both a musical recital and auto-ethnography how the violin allowed me to express myself in different ways and how it also helped me find my Chicana soul through those expressions and ways of performance.

Before I begin telling my story of how I began playing the violin, I would like to take the time to define these terms. Consuelo Nieto states that the Chicana is a woman who fights in order to secure her culture. Nieto says, “as a bicultural person, she participates in two worlds, integrating her Mexican heritage with that of the majority society. The Chicana seeks to affirm her identity as a Mexican-American and a woman and to define her role within this context”

(Nieto 1997). At the age of one, my parents decided to move to Tustin Ranch, California from

Costa Mesa, California to what was then a new housing development. Growing up I went to

4 Pioneer Middle School and Arnold O. Beckman High School that was predominantly White,

Asian, and Middle Eastern. I was one of three Latin-American students at Pioneer Middle

School. The majority of the Latina/os attending Beckman High School were bussed over from

Santa Ana Unified School District because of overcrowding. The students bussed over mainly kept to themselves. The majority of my classes were with the same classmates I had in middle school and my friends were all Asian and Middle Eastern. I had few opportunities to connect with other Latina/o students. Thus, I felt unconnected to my Mexican culture because I had no one to share my cultural values with at school. The time that I felt connected with my culture was once I started taking mariachi classes in Anaheim in 2004. After a few years of learning the music and making friends with the other students there, I felt that missing connection that I was lacking in school.

It was not until college once I started taking Chicano/a Studies classes at California State

University, Fullerton in 2009 where I learned the term “Chicana,” and started to identify with this term because I realized I also “participated in two worlds” as Nieto points out. I participated in the world in Tustin where I would practice American culture. At my mariachi classes, I participated in my Mexican culture by learning to play the violin in the mariachi way of playing.

I also “integrated” my Mexican heritage by performing mariachi music on the weekends and performing classical music during the week. After learning about the “Chicana,” I had believed that was the identity which best described who I was, and it was my violin and learning that new voice that helped me reach the Chicana soul inside me. I use the terms “language” and “voices” interchangeably in order to describe the two violin styles of playing I learned, the classical style and the mariachi style.

5 Playing the Violin

I started playing the violin when I was in the sixth grade, something that I wanted to do only because my favorite cousin was doing the same thing. As stated in my monologue, we grew up and did almost everything together and since we were born a month apart we shared most of the same interests. It was not until the end of seventh grade when my mother placed me in a non-profit organization in Anaheim, California called RHYTHMO where I would learn how to play my violin in a mariachi band. It was not something I hated, not something I liked, just something I added to my weekly routine. My passion for playing mariachi took about a year to develop. After about a month into the program, I realized that practicing the violin in two different spaces and places had come with two completely different styles of playing. I quickly learned that those two styles were never supposed to be mixed because they were so distinct in their styles. Compared to mariachi music, the classical music I played at school was more graceful, softer and offered less room for reinterpretation. What was said on the music sheet was how it was supposed to be played. With mariachi, my teacher said I always had to be loud and had to play very expressive. In my school orchestra, I was one of 50 violins where my voice tended to be lost within the other instruments, while in the mariachi group my role was much greater because there were always fewer than seven violins. I grew to like the different styles, but

I had yet to realize that knowing how to play the violin in a different style gave me an advantage over my other classmates even if their parents could afford private lessons. At the Beckman High

School orchestra, I was the only student who did not identify as Asian or White and I was one of the few who did not take private lessons. However, none of my classmates could say that they knew how to play the violin in two different ways. It was being in the mariachi band where I found my worth through my Mexican culture.

6 Once I graduated from Beckman in 2009, I would not continue playing in an orchestra. I began my undergraduate career that same year at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) with an undeclared major, but I leaned more towards a major in the humanities department.

While I had a passion for music, I could not see myself playing and performing for a full-time career. I looked into joining the orchestra at CSUF as an extracurricular, however, the requirements to enroll in the orchestra for non-music majors was way beyond my classical music knowledge. Although I had been playing in an orchestra since sixth grade, I accepted having to stop that part of my violin life. I still was participating in RHYTHMO and my violin playing was not going to come completely to an end. It was around this time in 2009 that my group, Mariachi

Puño de Oro started participating in different kinds of mariachi competitions all over California and also when I participated in my first mariachi conference.

In 2009, I attended the Tucson International Mariachi Conference where youth from around the nation came together for five days just to learn new mariachi music from professional mariachi musicians. During my first year attending the conference, I started networking with other students and other youth who shared the stories of what made them start playing mariachi.

Some had similar stories about how their parents put them in mariachi ensembles or because their parents themselves also played and their family wanted them to keep the tradition. At this conference, I also found out that some musicians only play mariachi for money. It is not that they enjoy playing, but they just see mariachi as a way to make money. I was in shock because I always saw mariachi as a beautiful tradition, but others thought of it as just a job. It was at this moment where I make a promise to myself that no matter how tough times got, I would never do mariachi for money, I would only continue playing to express my passion.

Throughout my first three years at California State University, Fullerton I continued

7 being in the same mariachi program, but I knew it was time to explore and grow as a mariachi musician. After attending the World Music Summer Institute at UCLA in 2011, I was recruited by Mariachi de Uclatlán in 2011 which was one of the few college mariachi groups in California.

According to Steven Loza, Mariachi de Uclatlán was the first university mariachi group in

California (Loza 1993). I never thought I had what it took to make it to UCLA, but breaking barriers was something I was getting used to doing. The following year, I transferred to UCLA where I attended for the next two years. I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Ethnomusicology and Chicana/o Studies. My experience being in Mariachi de Uclatlán was different from being in the mariachi program in Anaheim because it felt more structured. With Mariachi de Uclatlán, we read music and the director, Jesus “Chuy” Guzman was a well-known professional mariachi director from Mariachi los Camperos de Nati Cano. Chuy directed our group once to twice a week and directed us just like he directed Los Camperos. He expected a lot out of us, and I was elated with the challenge because I knew there was a reason I got accepted to UCLA and I would not let anything or anyone change my thinking. At UCLA, I was the strongest musically I ever have been because the music was more challenging and required a lot more musical knowledge than in high school. Chuy worked with us to make sure that we were known as a professional group.

My experience being in Mariachi de Uclatlán taught me a different kind of dedication because it required a lot more time practicing and rehearsing with the group. Being in the group also gave me more pride because every song I mastered made me want to perform more and show others what a mariachi band is capable of. Performing in Mariachi de Uclatlán embraced that Chicana soul, and it wanted me to embrace it every time I played. Mariachi de Uclatlán was not a “chamba” or “gigging” group, we did not perform every weekend, we mostly performed a

8 couple of times a quarter at public shows and performances for the UCLA community. I was sad once I graduated in 2014 and no longer had time to go back since I was recruited to be part of a different mariachi group, one who plays at parties every weekend, with the occasional public performance a few times a year.

Today I continue to be a member of Mariachi Camino Real, a group based in Azusa,

California. This group is not a professional group with CD recordings, films, or music videos.

This group is a “chamba” group, a group that plays at private events and small concerts in the park. As a member of this group I have also learned a lot musically. The songs I have learned in my time with them have not been as intensive as being in Mariachi de Uclatlán. Private clients hire us to perform. Our main audience is composed of those who attend weddings, quinceñeras, birthdays, baptisms, and other small gatherings. They ask for very common mariachi songs such as, “El Rey,” “Cielito Lindo,” “Aca Entre Nos,” songs that take the audience back to their hometown that they grew up hearing or to memories of past loved ones. In order to continue performing for private clients, we were required to learn songs at a much faster rate than we would in my past mariachi classes and averaged learning and memorizing about two songs every two weeks. I was not accustomed to the pace, but I was quick to adapt to it.

With this group just as the groups I was in before, I learned more about my self-worth and my importance in the mariachi community. I developed a sense of self-esteem and valued myself as a musician. I have learned that my heart and mind is triggered by the smiles and tears we see as our audiences hear our first notes. My violin language speaks to their souls and helps bring back countless memories. In the time I have been in Mariachi Camino Real, we have gone through so much together. From sleepless nights for Día de La Virgen, where we play to honor

Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Catholic figure, almost non-stop for a whole day, to small trips to gigs

9 in Bakersfield and San Francisco, to seeing each other at practices after we all get off work, and lastly to the recent death of one of our founding members in a car crash in 2016. These emotional connections I could not find with my school orchestras in Tustin. My violin helped me find the common language and connection with other mariachi musicians and helped me embrace my

Mexican culture which also embraced my Chicana soul. I am not going to talk and continue to say that our group is like family because this group is my family, and I am not just saying that because I see them more than my actual family. I say this because they welcome my violin and me every time I see them and they all have the same drive to make the most out of every performance. They make me frustrated, pull my hair, and stress me out, but the moment I finish my one-and-a-half-hour drive to get to Azusa, I know that being in this group makes playing my violin more worth it because the end result of performing for others and expressing our culture is what drives us. No matter where I end up career-wise, I know that I am still going to be playing mariachi for a long time and teaching it to my future children.

Because writing about my personal journey does not to do the entire experience justice, I chose to do a creative project because I wanted my audience and readers to see and hear the

“voices” and “languages” and understand that my Chicana soul is something that my violin helped me find. My creative performance will consist of five songs: “Jesusita en Chihuahua,”

“Bouree,” “Llano Grande,” “El Balaju,” and “Marcha de Zacatecas.” Before playing each song, I will discuss the background of each piece and the significance each song had to me. I have picked each mariachi song from different regions in Mexico and that are played differently stylistically on the violin. I have also included a classical piece, “Bouree,” for the audience to see and hear the different dynamics and expressionism it has as compared to the mariachi pieces.

10 The Development of Mariachi

Description of Mariachi

Mariachi is a piece of Mexican folk music that roots primarily from Jalisco, Mexico. To this day, no one knows the year mariachi became established, or who coined the term

“mariachi.” According to Daniel Sheehy, the first documentation of “mariachi” was in 1852 when a Catholic priest, Cosme Santa Anna, referenced this musical ensemble in a letter to the archbishop (Sheehy 2006). The present-day mariachi ensemble consists of five instruments, two of which are native to mariachi, the vihuela and guitarron, a high-pitched guitar and a big hollow bass guitar. The other instruments, guitar, violin, and trumpet are instruments that were brought over to Mexico by European musicians sometime after the conquest. A mariachi ensemble can play various types of music which include but are not limited to the son jalisciense, son veracruzano, polkas, boleros, huastecas, jarabes, and rancheras. The son jalisciense and jarabe are native to mariachi and Mexico.

Mariachi musicians can be identified by wearing a traje de charro which is traditionally made of thick material and known to have metal buttons called botunadura along the sides of the bottom garment and on the ends of the jacket sleeves. A male traje de charro includes a long- sleeved collared shirt, vest, jacket, pants, and a bow or moño around their neck. The female traje de charro consists of the same layers of garments, but instead of pants, women wear long skirts.

However, there are some female groups such as Trio Ellas and Mariachi Flor de Toloache who challenge the female norm of wearing skirts; instead, they wear pants as their male counterparts.

They also wear either a flower or a bow in their hair which is traditionally well-groomed and tied to hold their hair together. Mariachis can be seen and heard at private parties, restaurants, in schools, as well as formal concerts. Over time and with the help of immigration, moreover, after

11 the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the development of mariachis expanded to many parts of the

United States. However, the expansion also included various regions of Latin American, Japan,

Europe, Canada, and Cuba (Nevin 2002).

In 1907, Mariachi Coculense, performed for President Porfirio Diaz and added meaning to the mariachi and as a result became a symbol of regional Mexican culture. This later was used as a form of Mexican nationalism after the Mexican Revolution (Sheehy 2006). According to

Jeff Nevin, mariachi before the 1930s served as any other musical ensemble in Mexico (Nevin

2002). After the 1930s, mariachi was heard on the radio and seen in films which resulted in its popularization through media (Greathouse 2009). As a result of immigration, mariachi became a link to Mexican culture in the United States. In the United States, mariachi symbolized a way to continue Mexican tradition as Mexicana/os were finding their role in America.

The literature written on mariachi primarily targets the development of the musical ensemble and its connection with nationalism. The other portion of the scholarship describes the impact of mariachi programs in U.S. public schools.

Mariachi as Nationalism

Scholars agree that mariachi is known as a traditional music of Mexico and is also a symbol of Mexican nationalism and culture. All authors state that mariachi music is, not only a symbol of Mexican nationalism, but a way to step away from European colonization and a way to claim a separate national identity (Cantu 2003; Clark 2005; Mulholland 2007; Rodriguez

2010). However, scholars differ on specific details regarding the process of how the music is played in Mexico and the United States. Further, these authors differ in how mariachi was used as entertainment purposes, and how it also adapted European singing styles such as the use of phrasing and vibrato (Nevin 2002). Clark (2005) discusses Mexican nationalism and how

12 mariachi reminds immigrants of their culture. Thus, although they are no longer living in their home country, mariachi music serves as a constant reminder for their Mexican nationalism.

To continue, Mulholland (2007) states that mariachi promotes Mexican culture in the

United States and thus embraces Mexican nationalism. In comparison to Mulholland, Rodriguez

(2010) argues that mariachi and the future generations of mariachi ensembles are created to save the traditional art form. Literature has a common theme of Mexican nationalism, but Rodriguez concludes that this nationalism can also change art forms. Cantu (2003) added to this idea when he analyzes Alvaro Ochoa Serrano’s work in 1992 who discusses how mariachi was a symbol of

Mexico’s national identity. Cantu further explains the history of mariachi and how it became a symbol of nationalism after the Mexican Revolution.

As stated, scholars focus on different aspects of mariachi, but all agree it is a form of

Mexican nationalism. The research discusses how mariachi music is a part of Mexican culture, but the “why” is a missing element. Sheehy (2006) further discusses the role of mariachi music on Mexican-Americans and how it is an expression of “multicultural U.S. society” because it adds to the “status” of being Mexican. To emphasize, he embraces the mariachi culture and its evolution into the American mainstream. This is additionally emphasized when Henriquez

(2006) discusses the incorporation of European singing styles. Sheehy examines the development of instrumentation as he explains that some instruments are not native to Mexico and also mentions the traditional musical forms. Within the social life of mariachi music, Sheehy argues how this musical genre is seen in different forms from a cantina (bar) to professional venue performances such as Teatro Degollado in Mexico and the Million Dollar Theatre in Los

Angeles.

13 One of the first Chicanos to study mariachi in California was Steven Loza (1993), an ethnomusicologist and musician. Loza concentrates on prominent mariachi groups based in Los

Angeles such as Mariachi Camperos de Nati Cano and Mariachi Sol de Mexico and refers to their various performance scenarios and venues. He does not analyze the effects of mariachi music, but expands on the acculturation of American culture and how mariachi music went from a genre and symbol of identity in Mexico to an “entertainment show” for Americans.

Many authors mention different components of the evolution of mariachi such as the musical aspects, history, as well as the evolution in the United States. Most of the scholars suggest that mariachi is a symbol of Mexican nationalism and culture. A future recommendation is to examine and provide a wider discourse as to what extent, people of different ages and genders, connect to their own nationalism as a result of learning, playing, and/or performing mariachi.

Mariachi Programs in U.S. Public Schools

In addition, the authors explained the transition of Mexicans from concentration in rural spaces to urban spaces. After the Mexican-American War, Mexican immigration to the United

States increased in order to find a safer place to live, to find new jobs, and to achieve the

“American Dream.” However, Mexicans always resided in the United States. During the

Chicano movement, there was a push to value and recognize ethnic differences. As a result, mariachi music programs were incorporated into the public school curriculum during the time of social activism and movements in the U.S. nationwide. Historically, the manner in which mariachi was taught has not always been in schools, but rather through oral tradition (Rodriguez

2010). The literature references the incorporation of mariachi programs and mainly describes ways in which these programs began and the benefits they bring to schools and students. One of

14 the reasons for creating mariachi programs was a result of societal population shifts (Herbert

2010). As mariachi musicians transitioned from rural to urban areas, mariachi developed through and into the school curriculum. Perez (2002) discusses specific dates of when mariachi was implemented into the public school curriculum. Perez states that the first school district that began offering mariachi classes was located in Texas in 1966. In the Los Angeles Unified School

District (LAUSD), the first mariachi class offered began in 1974 in East Los Angeles. This also explains the outcome of immigration as stated from the last section and how mariachi then became incorporated into American education systems.

Jeff Nevin (2002), an educator, musician, and performer, also discusses the implementation of mariachi in schools. At first, Nevin was not familiar with mariachi music until he came across it in his research and began analyzing the musical practice. Nevin parallels

Rodriguez and states that the majority of mariachi musicians were taught “by ear,” as an oral tradition, however, newer generations after 1966 also began learning mariachi in U.S. public schools. When mariachi music is taught in schools, it requires teachers to teach standard notation reading (Western notation), something not traditional in Mexican culture because this concept is a Westernized way of teaching and reading music. Nevin acknowledges the presence of mariachi programs in school, but he emphasizes that Western notation is going to be the way of teaching all students regardless of the multicultural tradition. Thus, he does not go into detail about how playing the music can be identified with the culture of students.

Multiple authors mentioned that the point of including mariachi programs in schools was to motivate students to do better academically. However, studies still do not explain what the mariachi tradition means to students learning the music. Research further concludes that the reason mariachi classes are offered is to build musicians who are going to play “for life”

15 (Ballard, 2002). Authors discuss the inclusion of mariachi classes into the curriculum and how the classes are used as a strategy to lower drop-out rates as well as for access to employment through musical performances. Clark (2005) also discusses that participation of mariachi programs serves as a function for students learning important workforce habits such as dedication and hard work. She also states that mariachi programs led students to learn the skills of professionalism in a public venue. Clark does provide more insight into the mariachi programs in public schools, but concludes that the incorporation of mariachi programs plays a significant role in music education because the program allows for any kind (race, gender, and class) of students to learn mariachi. Lyncher (2008) and O’Hagin (2006) mention that mariachi classes can help educate students about multiculturalism and is a way to bring the community together.

Even though authors explain the benefits of the establishment of mariachi programs in schools, they all neglect to include the experiences and voices of students to see if these claims have resulted in favorable outcomes for them.

Regarding the establishment of mariachi programs in schools, Greathouse (2009) first expands on the great legends of mariachi ensembles, such as Mariachi Sol de Mexico and

Mariachi Cobre. Greathouse notes that because of the popularity, these legends also became incorporated into another approach to teaching mariachi. The initial approach to teaching mariachi is through an oral tradition, when an instructor teaches a student by showing them how to play a song, the other approach adapted later on was teaching mariachi through sheet music.

Along with the expansion of mariachi in education, there was a development of national conferences for students and musicians, of all ages, to come and learn more about mariachi and mariachi education in the United States.

16 Furthermore, references that are made by or about former students’ experiences do not discuss the effect that the classes had on their Mexican identity. Leonor Xóchitl Perez, a mariachi performer and academic, was one of the first scholars and Chicana that writes from a mariachi performers point of view as someone who grew up playing the genre. Perez began performing at a young age and Perez was part of the first LAUSD based classroom that incorporated mariachi in their curriculum in 1974. Perez states in her article in 2002, during her experience, mariachi women were looked down upon. However, as she got more and more experience, she identified with her own gender identity. Her work focuses on her experience as a

Chicana in academia, in the mariachi world, and her family. Although her experience shows one of the results of mariachi programs in schools, it lacks to mention how learning to play mariachi music affects other students’ cultural identity.

Perez is also one of the only authors who ties mariachi into the idea of Chicana identity.

As a Chicana, Perez challenged this male-dominated art and discussed how little to no work was conducted on the experiences of women in mariachi. She states how mariachi was an alternative to traditional Chicana gender roles, and by using her education and her academic positionality she wrote about her experience being a mariachi musician. She discusses the challenges faced being a woman and how at times her family would not be accepting of it because of its negative connotations. Her family believed that mariachi had a connection with the bar scene and that she would end up a callejera, or woman of the street. Through her article, she explains the meaning of mariachi in her life and how she hopes that women gain more power and voice in the mariachi world. Perez’s perspective focuses on the history of women in mariachi and how she became aware of the gender politics of the mariachi world. While her experience suggests the

17 importance of experiences of women in the mariachi world, she does not explore the ethnic identity issue.

The scholars above demonstrate the majority of the academic research on mariachi has been done through a Eurocentric lens. Not all scholars mentioned began as mariachi musicians, and fail to mention voices and experiences from mariachi performers themselves. Daniel Sheehy and Jeff Nevin both became in contact with mariachi later on in their musical careers and started studying the musical aspects of the folk music while in college. Perez was an author who grew up learning, playing, and performing mariachi at a young age and further expanded her understanding of mariachi through education. Hopefully, over time authors discussing mariachi are composed of mariachi musicians who have grown up playing mariachi and thus may include their own real-life experiences.

Mariachi music is continuously evolving. Although it has grown from a traditional form of an oral tradition to the incorporation of Western note reading, literature has shown that it has maintained its significance as a symbol of Mexican identity today. Through the incorporation of mariachi music in schools in the U.S. as argued by authors such as Clark (2005), it showed students an appreciation of multi-culturalism since the classes are open to all students.

Scholarship also states that these classes decrease drop-out rates and diversify the curriculum

(Clark 2005).

In regards to identity, Mexicans have been suppressed in the United States by White

America because of the fear of non-acceptance in the American culture. As a result, it became more challenging for Mexicans to express their identity. However, authors demonstrate that mariachi programs in American public schools were created to help better identify students with their culture as well as to promote diversity. While this work is important, research fails to

18 include the experiences of previous students. Future research is needed to examine students’ experiences within mariachi programs and how it not only helps students learn an instrument and do better in school, but also how it helps them identify with their Mexican heritage. In the work written on mariachi, there is a gap lacking the experiences of mariachi performers and how it helps them identify closer with Mexican culture. In my creative project, I provide my own experiences of being a mariachi performer and express how I used mariachi as a form to identify with Mexican culture and to find my Chicana soul.

19 Contribution to Chicana/o Studies

Identifying as “Chicana/o” does not signify just one meaning, the term has layers that unravel the histories and experiences of others. Though this creative project, I have a different approach to identifying as “Chicana.” Consuelo Nieto states, “[the Chicana] fights to preserve her culture and demands the right to be unique in America. Her vision is one of a multicultural society in which one need not surrender to a filtering process and thus melt away to nothingness”

(Nieto 1997). The violin helped me find a way to preserve my culture and allowed me to be unique once I learned the mariachi style of playing. The violin helped me embrace my Chicana soul and made me feel elated when I performed mariachi music to various crowds. Had I not learned mariachi music, I would have been stuck in cultural “nothingness” and would have continued to feel as if a part of me was missing. To me, being Chicana signifies being in consciousness with your culture as well to be proud to embrace it publicly and unafraid.

20 Performance Setting

When deciding the location of my musical recital I had to figure out the way I wanted to showcase my performance. Either my performance could have been done as other musical recitals in a small theatre on a stage or done in a smaller, informal setting, outdoors with open seating. While growing up, I had a chance to perform with both my public-school orchestras and mariachi in many professional environments such as the Irvine Barclay Theater in Irvine,

California, the Orange County Fair, in Costa Mesa, California, Tucson Convention Center

Arena, in Tucson, Arizona, and Carnegie Hall, New York. The experiences playing in prestigious theatres felt almost natural every time. Knowing I worked for my places and spaces in music, made me appreciate the experiences of performing at these venues even more. I liked how the sounds of my performance filled the building with vibrations and melodies. I also enjoyed sharing the same stages where professional musicians and groups also performed. It was like my presence was also making history. While performing in these venues, the audience would always clap whenever we would finish a song and sometimes, we would receive a standing ovation. The feeling of performing onstage always made me feel up to par with professional groups and musicians.

Through mariachi, I have performed at private settings such as at birthday parties, weddings, baptisms, quinceñeras (a festivity celebrated by Latino families to honor a child’s coming of age at fifteen years old), and funerals. These performances had sentimental meaning to the families that hired us. They hired us to make their events more sentimental and interactive for their family and guests. In comparison to the professional settings, these performances were meant for the audiences to interact with the music, singing along, clap with the beats, and ask for songs they want to hear. In these private settings, we (the mariachi) even had opportunities to

21 talk to the family and friends of the clients about their likes and dislikes, their family history where they are from, and sometimes discuss why mariachi is special to them. This setting is much more intimate and allows us to connect with our audience.

I put these two experiences and feeling into consideration, and I picked my musical recital to be at the Chicano House at California State University, Northridge. The setting was not a stage, but more of the open area outside the Chicano House where I then set up tables and chairs for my audience to be physically closer to my performance. I had to ask myself how I wanted my audience to interact with my music. Did I want my recital to be a formal performance where the audience would clap after each song or after my performance was over, or did I want them to clap and interact with my music? My performance was meant to show how the violin helped me find my voice in these two “languages” which also helped me find my Chicana soul. I wanted my audience to see the change in my body when I played and perceive what my recital was titled. I also wanted them to be able to hear and see the difference when I played the two styles of music, classical and mariachi. My performance was one where the audience could interact and clap along with the music and shout out gritos (passionate cries of emotion). I wanted to express the emotion through my music and then to my audience so that they can feel the music within their soul. Through the performance location at the Chicano House, it helped me express all my emotions and explain the importance of my music to myself and Chicana/o

Studies.

22 Reflection

Through my research, I learned that most scholarly work written on mariachi has been limited to the history, mariachi as nationalism, and teaching mariachi in schools and programs to youth to promote diversity to give students an opportunity to play another type of music.

However, there has been limited research done on the effect playing mariachi has on musicians regarding their cultural identity. Mariachi specifically has allowed me to connect with my cultural identity as a Chicana, the connection I had missing for many of my public-school years.

However, I was disheartened to learn that the history of mariachi does not include many personal experiences from mariachi musicians. My hope is through my creative project, past, present, and future mariachi musicians in academia will publish their experiences.

Through my performance, I felt so excited to show off my musical talent. I also felt a new kind of emotion I have never felt in any of my past performances. In my performance, I collided my weekend musical life with my weekday academic life. After my performance was over, I felt like my committee, professors, colleges, and friends got to know and understand me better. In comparison, I also felt that my mariachi group was able to understand the importance of academia better, and how we can study and conduct research in academia in different ways. In a way, I feel like I made another part of history just like I made a history performing in the professional venues I spoke about earlier.

I am thankful that my committee as well as other professors at California State

University, Northridge were so supportive of my performance. They all listened with open ears and helped put everything together. I would also like to thank my group, Mariachi Camino Real for being patient with the process and allowed me to share my work with them. Overall, I felt like I embraced my Chicana soul through my performance and it is something I would have

23 never pictured myself doing when I first picked up my violin. My violin playing is something I will continue doing over time, and my Chicana soul has not dimmed since the moment it came out, and I plan to keep it going for as long as I live.

24 Musical Recital and Song Explanations

My creative project is entitled “Finding my Chicana Soul in the Languages of My

Violin.” Before I start performing I want to share with you the story that leads me to this day. I grew up in a small city known as Tustin, California which was a predominately White and Asian area and the majority of people who live there identify as upper-middle class. My mother was born in Zacatecas, Mexico and my dad was born in Nayarit, Mexico. Both my parents immigrated here when they were young, met through their church, and got married in 1990.

After they got married they had both agreed that they wanted their future children to be raised in an area that was in a quiet and safe environment, so they agreed to move into an apartment in

Tustin. Growing up I always knew I was Mexican and I always identified myself as that but I never was in a space or place where I could embrace my culture or speak Spanish with anyone. It had never bothered me nor was I discriminated against because of my ethnicity.

I started playing violin in sixth grade as an elective class called “Beginning Strings” where I was taught the fundamentals of playing the violin and reading music. The music I had played was mainly classical music and I was taught to play how the sheet music told me to play,

25 for example, only to play loud or soft when it directed me to. My understanding of playing the violin was very limited until I started learning how to play mariachi at the end of seventh grade.

My mom saw an article in the newspaper offering mariachi classes for all ages and asked me if I wanted to try it out. I agreed. Little did I know that would be just the beginning of my relationship with mariachi and a new opening for my soul to express itself.

I eventually stopped playing in an orchestra after I graduated high school, however, I continued to play mariachi through my undergraduate career at UCLA in Mariachi de UCLAtlán and during my CSUN master’s coursework in the Chicana/o Studies department.

Once I started taking classes in the Chicana/o Studies department I learned that Chicanos did not always have a voice. They had to fight for their rights and fight to be allowed to attend higher education. Chicano Studies was not a program that was already on campuses, they had to fight for their space and their place to learn their history.

I decided on doing a creative project for my thesis because it would be difficult explaining the emotions I get when I play. I would rather show you my feeling, see the emotion on my face, hear the sounds of my violin when I play it, and see the pride I have when I play mariachi music.

Performing with me today is Mariachi Camino Real from Azusa, California. This group has been in existence since 2007 and still includes some of its founding members. I have been performing with this group since 2014, and through our various rehearsals I have grown as a musician and I have also seen the growth professionally and personally in my mariachi compañeroa/s. I am going to perform five songs and I am going to explain a little about them and their importance to my violin playing.

26 The first song you will hear today is called “Jesusita en Chihuahua.” This piece is originally composed by Quirino Mendoza during the time of the Mexican Revolution and was first heard in 1916. It is a polka played with a bow (arco) and pizzicato (plucked) with the right hand. The polka originates from Germany, but the mariachi adapted the song form. The song is in 2/4 time and starts in G Major, shifts to D Major, then C Major, but ends in G major. It is written in rondo form as the song continuously goes back to the same theme or starting phrase.

“Jesusita en Chihuahua” centers around soldaderas, or female soldiers who fought during the

Mexican Revolution. This song can be seen as a form of empowerment in women because it is also kept alive through folklorico, a Mexican folk dance which also acknowledges the women’s presence during the Mexican revolution. This song highlights the violin, and in the “C” section, you can really hear the challenging violin part as this section has a lot of fast notes. Its significance to me is this is the first polka I learned. It was a challenging piece because it mostly consisted of violin parts and it was rigorous. This is also a song that I have played at every gig and is consistent in my various performances.

My next piece is called “Bouree,” a song composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is from the baroque time period and as you will hear it is very graceful. The song has an “allegro” (or fast) tempo and has similar techniques of fast notes as those you heard in Jesusita in Chihuahua.

The song is in G major for the first section of the song, but then is written in G minor, the parallel minor for the second half. The song includes wide intervals, which means the notes that are performed are a side distance apart. Today, classical training is now encouraged in order to learn and understand music theory. I learned music theory in high school, and then again when I started the Ethnomusicology program at UCLA and knowing some fundamentals helped me do better in music theory classes in college. This was the song I played for my orchestra final in

27 high school as a freshman. Before this, I had only ever played with other people, this was the first solo I ever did in front of a crowd. I would normally get nervous talking in front of my classmates for other presentations and projects and my voice would start to shake. I remember it was about five seconds into playing that my legs started shaking as my voice does during speeches, but about halfway through performing the piece, I realized that I was not using my physical voice and the one speaking was my violin. No one would hear my voice shake, because my voice was not the one talking, my violin was. It was here where I realized that my violin gave me another kind of voice, one that gave me much more confidence and expression. The violin then became a way for me to confidentially speak and express my emotions.

The next song is titled “Llano Grade,” which is a son jalisciense, a style of song that is native to the mariachi and stems from Jalisco, Mexico. This song has no lyrics and is played loud and aggressively. Some sones jaliscienses have lyrics and others do not, but lyrics or not these sones are played with much emotion. It is known to have the rhythm of galloping horses hooves, as the vihuela and guitar mimic this rhythm through their down-down-up strumming style.

Because this song style is native to the mariachi, audience members often hear gritos, or emotional yells of excitement. This song is significant to me because it is not a well-known son, and you can see and hear the violin being played throughout the whole song as opposed to a song such as a ranchera which has small, short phrases that accompany the singer.

“El Balaju” is the title of the next song we will perform and it is a son jarocho or son veracruzano, a song style from Veracruz, Mexico and a genre adopted by the mariachi. The version you will hear today is the version recorded by Mariachi Cobre. Unlike the other songs you heard, this song is performed with lyrics and today I will have Melissa Casas sing this song.

The lyrical form is sung in coplas. This song originally is played with a harp, but in this

28 arrangement, the violin and trumpet perform most of the melodic parts. This song is very challenging and is not common to perform during private parties unless requested. It is played more in a concert setting because of the difficulty of the song. It has trumpet and violin solos in the middle of the song and thus highlights these two instruments. It is also challenging to play and forces me to concrete with its wide intervals.

My last song we will perform is called “La Marcha de Zacatecas,” a march heard during the Mexican Revolution that was originally written by Genaro Codina Fernandez in 1891. The original song incorporates lyrics, however, the version that the mariachi adapted is without lyrics. It is written in a 2/4 rhythm and it is a song that is most popularly played during weddings. My mom is from Zacatecas so when I play this song, I feel my mom coming out of me. It gives me a sense of pride. Although it is a challenging song, I appreciate it more for how proud I feel being from my mom’s state.

I started playing the violin as a hobby and something I could say I could do. Growing up,

I was very shy. I didn’t really talk a lot. First, I used the violin as my form of expression and I enjoyed every part of it. When I started learning mariachi I enjoyed it as well but in a different way because it allowed me to connect with my Mexican heritage. Then I learned to appreciate it because I realized that learning to play the mariachi style was a different skill that I had over my orchestra members even if they could all afford private lessons. The “classical” voice made me feel knowledgeable and passionate while the “mariachi” voice made me feel pride and kept me wanting to embrace my roots. I started learning a new term, Chicana. Being Chicana made me want to embrace those roots everywhere I went, every time I played, and every time I spoke in broken Spanish. The violin has helped me not only have a voice, but it also helped me find my

Chicana soul. These songs you heard today exposes the soul because there was a time where it

29 could not show itself. Through mariachi, I can embrace my culture’s histories, traditions, and passions. Maggie Kuhn once said “speak your mind even if your voice shakes,” and my voice does shake. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been that way. Speaking my mind is a form of telling people how I feel, how my day is, my opinion on something, but I get that same feeling when I play my violin because I can play any kind of expression. Who knew that the girl who was too shy to have a voice found two new ways of speaking that motivated her to always speak her mind.

Again, I want to thank everyone for coming out, my committee members, faculty, friends, and the CSUN community.

30 Creative Performance Photographs

Location: Chicano House at California State University, Northridge Photography by: Wendy Paniagua April 16, 2017

31 Welcome all to my we found that we were one of the only Finding My Chicana Mexican families who lived there. presentation! Growing up I was never discriminated Soul in the Languages because of my ethnicity, however, I I want to thank my graduate chair Dr. Peter never had anyone to share my culture’s of My Violin J. Garcia and my other committee members values with. I had a soul in me that could Dr. Christina Ayala-Alcantar and Dr. Mary never expose itself. I was always a shy Pardo for being supportive of my process kid growing up until I started learning and believing in my musical talent. how to play the violin. With the violin, I learned a new way of communicating I would also like to give a special thanks to and a passion for music. Later on, I my supportive parents for always telling me began learning the mariachi style and in to follow my dreams and for the endless doing so it opened my soul up to love they give no matter how far we may be. embrace my Mexican pride. It made me To my guardian angel, hermanito Christian, have a voice I never knew I had. for keeping me safe and always being my motivation, cada lucha que hago, la hago en Through my performance I want you to tu nombre. see the emotion I get every time I put my violin up. I want you to witness how Kenya Garay Lastly, I would like to thank Mariachi playing violin is another form of Camino Real for joining and performing communication- that there is more than with me tonight. You are like a second one way of speaking. I would like you to M.A. Candidate Chicana/o Studies family to me, along with our angel, Oscar hear the different styles and emotions California State University, Northridge Herrera. May his passion of music live between my “classical” voice and my Creative Project - Music Recital through all of us. “mariachi” voice. Lastly, I want you to witness the cultural pride and the release ~ of my Chicana soul with every note I play.

I grew up in Tustin, California, a small city in Orange County in a “Speak your mind even if your voice shakes.” predominately White and Asian – Maggie Kuhn community. My parents both immigrated to California from Mexico when they

were young, and got married in 1990. Wednesday, April 26, 2017 They moved to Orange County because they wanted their future children to be raised in a quiet community. However, 32 Finding My Chicana Soul during the Mexican 4. El Balaju Revolution. . This song is originally a son in the Languages of My jarocho which is a style of Violin 2. Bourrée music that originated in . This song is written by Johann Veracruz, Mexico. The piece Opening Remarks: Dr. Peter J. Sebastian Bach. It is a is written in D major and Garcia classical piece originally switches back and forth from composed for a cello. It begins ¾ to 6/8 rhythm. It is a lyrical All songs accompanied by in the key of G major but then song that features a trumpet Mariachi Camino Real shifts to its parallel minor, G solo and a violin solo in the minor, and ends in G major. It middle of the piece. The lyrics 1. Jesusita en Chihuahua features wide intervals and are sung in coplas as well as . This piece is originally many fast notes. in a call and response pattern. composed by Quirino Mendoza during the time of 3. Llano Grande 5. La Marcha de Zacatecas the Mexican Revolution. It is . Translated, this song means . La Marcha de Zacatecas is a polka played with a bow “large plain.” This son known as Mexico’s second (arco) and pizzicato (plucked) jalisciense is not a common national anthem. It was with the right hand. The polka son played by mariachi originally titled “Marcha originates from Germany, but groups. The son jalisciense is Aréchiga” dedicated to the mariachi adapted the song the style of music that is Zacatecas’ governor at the form. The song is in 2/4 time native to the mariachi time. It is composed by and starts in G Major, shifts to ensemble. While the mariachi Genaro Codina in the key of C D Major, then C Major, but has a wide range of song major and in 2/4 time. While ends in G major. It is written styles, the son jalisciense is the original version of this in rondo form as the song the most traditional part of the song contains lyrics, this continuously goes back to the repertoire. Oftentimes, sones arrangement is instrumental. same theme or starting phrase. attempt to imitate the life of “Jesusita en Chihuahua” the rural experience. In this centers around soldaderas, or son, the rhythm mimics female soldiers who fought horse’s hooves galloping.

33 Creative Project Portfolio Images

Anaheim Mariachi Competition: Mariachi Puño de Oro (2006)

Mariachi Puño de Oro (2004)

Disneyland Performing Arts Concert: Beckman High School Chamber Orchestra (2007)

Mariachi Puño de Oro (2009)

Univision Television Appearance: Mariachi Divas (2011) Mariachi Puño de Oro (2010)

34 Mariachi de UCLAtlán (2013)

Mariachi de UCLAtlán (2013)

UCLA Music of Mexico Spring Concert: Mariachi de UCLAtlán (2014)

Fiesta Mexicana – Royce Hall: Mariachi de UCLAtlan (2013)

UCLA RAZA Graduation, Pauley Pavilion: Mariachi de UCLAtlán (2014)

35

Mariachi Camino Real (2015)

Azusa’s Golden Days Celebration, Memorial Park: Mariachi Camino Real (2015)

Private Event, Baldwin Park: Mariachi Camino Real (2016)

Azusa Concerts in the Park, Memorial Park: Mariachi Camino Real (2016)

Mariachi Camino Real (2016)

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