The upbeat melody of a mariachi band’s acoustic guitar, violin, and trumpet, accompanied by passionate vocals, fills sophomore music therapy major Marie Cruz with joy.
“Mariachi music is prideful, joyful, and happy,” Cruz said. “I feel like there’s never a soulless mariachi song.”
As co-founder and president of the new Redbird Mariachi Club registered student organization, Cruz loves sharing the music she grew up playing with the Illinois State University community, while inviting Redbird musicians to join the band.
“I started playing mariachi music when I was younger, but I didn’t see a lot of representation in schools, which is why I started a mariachi club in high school and why I started one here,” said Cruz, a Chicago native. “To see more Hispanic representation in music, it fills me with joy to be able to take that step and start this club.”
Founded this fall, the Redbird Mariachi Club is the University’s first Hispanic music ensemble, according to Cruz. She and the club’s approximately 15 members meet to practice each Sunday and aim to perform at least once a month.
Cruz said the club provides musicians a chance to step out of their musical comfort zones.
“We’re aiming to promote diversity and inclusion within the School of Music and within Illinois State, through mariachi,” Cruz said. “We’re very open to everyone, just to play together.”
Sophomore music education and music therapy double major Diego Gomez co-founded the Mariachi Club with Cruz and serves as vice president. Gomez, who describes mariachi as festive party music, said astute listeners can pinpoint where a mariachi song originated just by listening to it.
“And I think that’s the beauty of it. That Mariachi is really rooted in what the people did in a certain place,” Gomez said. “It’s a big thing in mariachi to really acknowledge where the music comes from.”
Cruz said anyone who can read sheet music is welcome to join the Redbird Mariachi Club. While experience playing mariachi music isn’t necessary, there are some highly-qualified members, including Alexis Piña ’25, a music performance graduate student and trumpet player in the Chicago-based mariachi band Mariachi Tesoro de Mexico.
Along with musicians who play traditional mariachi instruments such as guitar and trumpet, the Redbird Mariachi Club also includes unique elements such as a bassoon.
“I think the beauty of it is that we can take a bunch of people with a bunch of different skills, and—whatever you can give us, we’ll use,” Gomez said.
The club’s first performance took place during an October 4 Association of Latinx American Students event to celebrate Mexican Independence Day at the Multicultural Center.
With more performances on campus and in the Bloomington-Normal community planned, Gomez said he hopes the Mariachi Club’s music can connect with its audiences.
“There’s often a time in classical music where it can feel like ‘us and them,’ the performers on stage and us, the observers watching,” Gomez said. “I hope that in mariachi, we can create a more unified musical experience.”
Through the Redbird Mariachi Club, Cruz said she wants audiences to experience the “beauty in mariachi.”
“I hope they realize just how cool it is,” Cruz said. “And for members of the Hispanic community, I hope they listen and feel that sense of home that I feel when I listen to it. Mariachi helps us come together.”
Follow the Redbird Mariachi Club on Instagram for more information about upcoming performances and how to get involved.
