This year, our Franklin High School Mariachi was invited to perform at the 2nd Annual Stockton Scholastic Mariachi Festival on May 19, 2024. This event will feature multiple groups from different schools in the Central Valley and will be held at Cesar Chavez High School Football Stadium.
The purpose of this festival is to celebrate Mexican culture and music. Adult admission tickets will cost $15; child admission tickets will cost $5. All proceeds will benefit Mariachi Education throughout the Central Valley.
This year is the first year that FHS has an established Mariachi program. Julia Alejandra Murillo, the FHS Mariachi teacher and club advisor, said in an email that she and some of her fellow mariachi colleagues had been working on this project since last year and ¨brought it to life¨ in 2023. Despite this being the students’ first year in mariachi at FHS, they have already accomplished a spot to perform in the Stockton Scholastic Mariachi Festival. ¨It’s super exciting; I´m super proud of them,¨ said Murillo.
In order to get here, the students have been working hard. ¨ Students participating in the festival have been rehearsing three times a week since the start of the spring semester,¨ said Murillo.
Xavier Ramos (12), said that his favorite part of being in mariachi is playing the trumpet and being a part of something. Ramos added that credit for securing a spot in the cultural festival should largely go to Murillo. ¨I believe the teacher is holding this program together,” Ramos said.
Mariachi member Diego Valdez Gomez (12) echoed that sentiment. ¨I think [our success is] for the most part because of the efforts of my teacher,” Gomez said.
As for the future of the program at FHS, Murillo said that she hopes that the group of students interested in mariachi will grow over time. ¨[Mariachi is] part of my family – it’s part of my culture, [and] I grew up with it,¨ said Murillo. For Murillo and her students, the hope is that Mariachi will also once more be a part of FHS culture and tradition for years to come.
