UnidosUS Affiliate MAC’s mariachi conservatory and its partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools helps students thrive inside and outside of school

Motivating kids to do any kind of studying or practicing the week before winter break is a tough job for anyone, even for members of the legendary mariachi band Los Mora Arriaga, who have spent the past 10 years helping UnidosUS Affiliate, the Mexican American Council (MAC), form and grow a local youth music school called the Homestead-Miami Mariachi Conservatory. 

“I know you’re tired and you’ve been working hard, but you’re going to be on national TV, so don’t look so serious. I want to see you moving, playing your instruments and singing!” shouts the group’s animated musical director Levid Mora Arriaga. 

The students, ranging from elementary to middle and high school age, try their best to bend and sway to a usual crowd favorite, the Mexican son jarocho song “La Bamba,” mixed with the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout.”  

Not only were the kids slated for national television, but they were also about to get a huge Internet following. That week, the conservatory was scheduled to give a halftime performance at the Miami Heat game on December 20, followed by another live-streamed presentation for Apple Music from inside the Apple Store at Aventura Mall, one of the most trafficked centers of South Florida’s holiday season. 

Minutes later, the youth were finally in full swing, not only nailing that tune but throwing their hearts and souls into a trilingual rendition of the famous Latin American folk song “La Llorona.” 

Tiny in stature yet bold in her voice, fourth-grader Lucia took center stage, belting out the tune in English, Spanish and Zapotec. The song is common across the Americas, and she likes the way it stitches together multiple cultures. 

“Singing ‘La Llorona’ feels different, like being in another country,” she said, adding that the song brought forth a wide range of emotions about the famous La Llorona, a ghost wearing a huipil who wanders at night crying over the violent choices she made in a jealous rage. It’s usually considered bad luck to see her, but in this song, penned by Mexican folk singer Chavela Vargas, Lucia expresses her understanding and pity. 

“It starts out sad, but then the voice gets higher,” said Lucia.   

Lucia sings and plays the violin, and hopes this program will train her to become a professional musician one day. 

“I like to practice and sing. I want to have a talent,” she told ProgressReport.co. Her eyes light up as she remembers her first live performance a few years earlier. 

“I felt like I was actually a singer,” she said. 

When reminded that she is already a singer, she laughs and grins. Minutes later, she’s back in the practice room throwing her voice into more songs. 

In the 10 years since its founding, with $60,000 in seed money from the arts and journalism-focused nonprofit the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Homestead-Miami Mariachi Conservatory has grown from 20 students to over 400. Early in the program, a funder required that MAC be diligent in tracking data and key performance indicators such as retention rates, self-esteem, musical mastery and number of performances, a requirement that MAC Executive Director Eddie Garza said has paid off. “By meeting that incredibly stringent standard as our baseline, we grew up in this game,” he said. 

Today, the conservatory also has the support of grants and other resources from the Jorge Perez Family Foundation, the DeLuca Foundation, the Florida Department of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts. But one of its biggest educational achievements is that Homestead-Miami Mariachi Conservatory recently joined forces with Miami-Dade County Public Schools to provide a school-time mariachi curriculum and afterschool programming, making the school system’s Leisure City K-8 Center in Homestead its permanent home. 

“By joining the public school system, it allows us to scale and give more arts access to youth who wouldn’t have had it through the in-school model, while still allowing us to have our after school component, which is available to the community at large,” said Garza. The outpouring of support for a multicultural program like this one makes him hopeful that MAC can eventually develop the conservatory into an official magnet school. 

“This is a really interesting time for mariachi music, for Latino music, for all music. This too is American music,” he said, noting that at another recent event, children in the conservatory also learned to sing and perform in Haitian Creole. 

The songs and sounds coming out of the Homestead-Miami Mariachi Conservatory are certainly different from the salsa, bachata and reggaeton that has so often dominated the airwaves of South Florida, whose Latino culture is generally associated with the area’s large number of residents of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Venezuelan heritage. But Homestead is one of Florida’s largest agricultural regions and has drawn migrant farm workers from Mexico, Central America and Haiti for generations. While mariachi is typically Mexican, it’s a genre widely appreciated and even adopted in Central America. 

Homestead-Miami Mariachi Conservatory is the only mariachi school in Florida, but in Texas, there are many school programs  gaining national attention. For example, the 2023 Netflix documentary Going Varsity in Mariachi follows the trials and tribulations of a Texas high school mariachi band with ambitions of competing in a tough state championship. 

This trend in mariachi schools and championships is not lost on the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation. It has been supporting the Homestead-Miami Mariachi Conservatory through instrument provisions and also offers a scholarship program aimed at training the next generation of Latino music creators, a program for which they strongly encourage Mariachi Conservatory students to apply. 

“Programs like the Homestead-Miami Mariachi Conservatory strengthen local music communities, fostering pride and engagement in Latin American heritage. By investing in these students, the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation is not only supporting individual talent but also uplifting entire communities and securing the legacy of Latin music for generations to come,” Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation Executive Director Raquel “Rocky” Egusquiza told ProgressReport.co.

That’s music to the ears of many students.  

“At first, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in general. But when my family put me into music, it made me realize that it’s something I plan to continue. Even though I plan to study engineering, I still want to play music,” said 11th-grade mariachi student Emily, who hopes to apply to several universities for more than one major or area of study.

“One of my band directors even said that I can be like Batman, an engineer by day and musician by night. The Mariachi Academy helped me choose which music to play because at first, I knew I wanted music in my life, but since I’m being introduced to more styles like jazz, concert/symphony and marching, it made it more difficult for me to decide. Now I know for sure mariachi is one of the main things I want to play, along with concert/symphony. Mariachi gives a world of sound that will make you want to move, dance, and sing along with the singer. I love that feeling of being free and being surrounded by music, and the Mariachi Academy helped me realize that.” 

“It gives me goosebumps because it tells me that what we’re doing here is making an impact,” said Garza.

Of course, not all students in the conservatory dream of becoming professional musicians, and that’s okay. The creativity and dedication to music and performance will surely pay off in other areas of their lives. 

Take, for example, high school student and violin player Eileen. Her dream is to become a pilot, a profession that also requires concentration, precision and a knack for performance under pressure before an audience in the cabin or on the landing strip. 

“Playing music helps you with your academics. It can get stressful when you’re doing your homework, but spending some time with an instrument makes you feel better,” she said. “Plus, I like to perform, and that’s another thing. Being on stage in front of big crowds has built my confidence to where I get up there and I’m no longer nervous.” 

Fourth grader David, agrees. 

“When I entered the stage for my first concert, I was nervous. The second one, I was a little nervous. And by the third one, I was no longer nervous.” No longer nervous to perform, David is also unafraid of expressing the heartfelt emotions that come with the music he’s playing. His favorite song is a romantic one, “La Antiguita Bonita.” 

“It’s about someone loving someone,” he said. His face turned calm and serene, like he can place himself in the scenario the song seeks to depict. 

Garza is thrilled to see the many benefits that playing mariachi music provides to students, who often come from low-income families.  

“You have young kids in elementary, middle school and high school growing up in a social media age. They’re being bombarded with immense wealth that they don’t have,” he said. “They’re made to feel so little and so nothing, but this puts that world aside and allows them to get value in what life is truly giving them: building a skill with others, and a love and passion for music and arts.” 

Whatever career trajectory they choose — be it music, aviation, engineering or something else, Garza will be glad to see the outcome.

“I just want them to be fulfilled and happy and see that they matter. And right now, we do that through music,” he said. 

The Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation scholarship applications are now open! Latin music creators have the opportunity to apply for several scholarships designed to support their music education. With awards ranging from tuition assistance to the renowned Prodigy Scholarship. The application deadline to apply is April 10, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Click here to learn more and submit an application. 

Author Julienne Gage is a former UnidosUS staff member and longtime contributor to the Progress Report blog. She is currently obtaining her PhD in Anthropology in Florida International University’s Global and Sociocultural Studies Department.