Junior High Mariachi Group to Play With the Best at Hollywood Bowl

Mariachi Olimpico of Belvedere Junior High sang and played its way to the Mariachi USA concert at the Hollywood Bowl by being judged the best of three Los Angeles student mariachi groups.

The 13 members of Mariachi Olimpico won the honor of performing with some of the nation’s best mariachi groups at the June 20 concert. The students beat out Mariachi Los Halcones of San Fernando Middle School and Mariachi Los Alanos of Garfield High School in the junior competition held at Plaza de La Raza last month. They also won $5,000 in scholarships.

“When they really want it, they’re into it and today they really wanted it,” said Adolfo Martinez, Olimpico’s director and a Belvedere teacher.

The mariachi group, dressed in black-and-cream outfits with red ties and traditional silver trimmings, arrived just minutes before the contest began because they had two scheduled performances beforehand. They often perform for weddings, baptisms or other gatherings to raise money for outfits, instruments and scholarships, Martinez said.

Although professional mariachi groups continue to be dominated by men, most of the junior performers in all three competing groups were girls. Martinez credits the draw of the violin, which is preferred by the girls, for bringing more of them into the group. Boys lean toward the guitar and trumpet, he said.

For now, the girls seem to enjoy their prominence in the groups but acknowledge the difficulty that women face in professional mariachis.

“There should be more women in mariachi,” said Olimpico violinist Alina Estrada, 15. “They’re just as good as men.”

Two of the competing groups have close ties. Half of the 12-member Mariachi Los Alanos started performing mariachi music as middle school students at Belvedere, said violinist Janis Nuno and Norma Valenzuela, a vocalist and violinist of Los Alanos.

And some of the Mariachi Olimpico members attend Garfield High. “We weren’t too sure about competing,” said Nuno, 18, a senior at Garfield High, as the musicians rehearsed before the contest. “If we win, we win and if we don’t we’re not going to be bad sports about it, because we don’t like to feel that we’re competing against other mariachis.”

“We do it because we enjoy doing it,” said Valenzuela, 18, whose strong vocals brought enthusiastic applause from the audience. “We’re very close to (Belvedere).”

The musicians were judged on tone, technique, interpretation and stage presence.

“I’m always impressed when I see these performances,” said judge Laura Sobrino, who was the first woman to perform with Los Galleros and the only woman to perform with Mariachi Sol de Mexico. Sobrino retired from performing to raise a family and now teaches at Rio Hondo College.

“It’s a difficult music and for all of them to be so strong and together is really something. It’s harder than people think,” she said, adding that the judging “was very, very close.”

Other judges were Mark Foguelquist of Mariachi Uclatlan and Los Galleros leader Pedro Rey.

The third annual Mariachi USA includes a lineup of Jose Hernandez’s Sol de Mexico, Los Galleros, Mariachi Cobre from Tucson, Las Campanas de America from Texas and Jesus Rodriguez de Hijar’s Mariachi de America from Mexico. Also on the program are singer Aida Cuevas from Mexico and the Mariachi USA Symphony and folkloric dancers.

Rodri J. Rodriguez, whose Rodri Entertainment Group puts on the Mariachi USA show, told the young musicians before the contest that she appreciates the effort they put into their music. “You are really a brilliant example,” she said.

Last year’s winner, Mariachi Oro y Plata of Roosevelt High School, went on to perform in a national television commercial and continues to perform publicly, said musician Sandylu Guerrero.

Mariachi USA is from 7 to 11 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.) on Saturday, June 20 , at the Hollywood Bowl, 2301 Highland Ave. Tickets range from $10 to $60 and may be purchased at Ticketmaster outlets, the May Co. and Music Plus. Box seats , which go for $100 each , are almost sold out. For more information, call (213) 480-32322 or (714) 740-2000.