'Mariachi is more than just music,' says Skyline High alum who made first all-state youth ensemble

Oct. 1—Ally Rodriguez has always been passionate about music, but she didn't know how much of an impact the mariachi genre would have on her life until she started playing it herself.

"Before being in an actual mariachi band, I always thought of mariachi as just a genre of music," she said. "Now, I actually get to play it and enjoy it and feel that energy for it. It's one of those things where you don't know exactly how it is until you get to experience it yourself."

Rodriguez, a Longmont native and 2021 alum of Skyline High School, is one of only a dozen musicians selected for Mariachi Estelares de Colorado — the first youth all-state mariachi ensemble in Colorado.

Both a violinist and vocalist, Rodriguez auditioned for the ensemble in August by submitting a video to the Latino Cultural Arts Center in Denver.

"I was really nervous," she said. "I didn't see myself getting in because it's the whole state."

On Sept. 25, Mariachi Estelares had its first performance in which they opened for prominent mariachi musician Lupita Infante at the Viva Southwest Mariachi Festival in Denver.

Rodriguez was told the band performed for an audience of more than 3,800 people. After the concert, she said many happy tears were shed.

"It was a really proud moment for all of us," she said. "I felt very fortunate that I could achieve something I honestly never thought of achieving."

The ensemble includes musicians from ages 14 to 20. Rodriguez is one of three members from Boulder County, with the other two representing Niwot High School.

"We'll get back together in April to see when we're going to play again," she said.

Rodriguez, 19, is a college freshman and music education major at Metropolitan State University in Denver. She plays in the symphony orchestra and plans to join MSU's mariachi ensemble soon.

Rodriguez picked up violin in sixth grade, but it wasn't until her junior year at Skyline that she joined the school's mariachi program. She said she clicked with it right away.

"Mariachi is so much more than just music," she said. "It's a sense of community and family. You get to share that love with a bunch of different people who are all there for the same reason."

Rodriguez said if she had to describe the mariachi genre in one word, it would be "passionate."

"It's full of joy, full of energy," she said. "It could cheer up a whole crowd the moment they hear the starting note of the song."

Music runs in the family for Rodriguez. Her mother sings, and both her father and brother are instrumentalists. She and her family are also part of a worship team at Vida Abundante church in Longmont.

"My parents have set an amazing example of what music really is," she said.

Juanita Vasquez, Rodriguez's grandmother, said she was proud but not surprised that her granddaughter made the ensemble.

"I know she has so much potential," Vasquez said. "I was so happy for her."

Skyline High School orchestra and mariachi teacher Brian Crim, who encouraged Rodriguez to audition for Mariachi Estelares, said he was excited to see her get this opportunity. Crim attended Sunday's concert, where he watched Rodriguez perform the first vocal solo of the performance.

"Mariachi has cultural and traditional significance behind it, especially for our Latino population here in Longmont," he said. "It's fun to participate in something so meaningful."