DENVER — For Mari Meza-Burgos, mariachi is more than music — it's a legacy. And she's helping pass it on.
The professional mariachi and MSU Denver alum is teaching music teachers in Colorado how to authentically incorporate mariachi into their classrooms. The educator training, offered in partnership with MSU Denver and the nonprofit she co-founded — Cuerdas y Canciones: Center for Mariachi Arts and Culture — is laying the foundation for what could soon be a statewide cultural shift.
“We saw the need for teachers and a desire to start mariachi programs,” Meza-Burgos said. “I really felt that mariachi needed to come from an authentic place.”
Meza-Burgos helped start MSU Denver’s student mariachi club in 2012. That club led to a formal class, the formation of a campus ensemble, and now — more than a decade later — a first-of-its-kind degree.
This fall, MSU Denver will launch Colorado’s only bachelor’s degree program in Mariachi Performance and Culture. The interdisciplinary program combines performance, Chicana/o Studies, Spanish language proficiency, and business courses.
“We want to create the Juilliard of mariachi,” said Philip Ficsor, assistant professor of music at MSU Denver. “Our ideal graduate can go and work as a mariachi but also understand the cultural context they’re walking into.”
The program reflects a rising interest in formally preserving and teaching mariachi — especially among younger generations who grew up with the music in schools and family gatherings.
One of the program’s first students, Samuel Leon, has been performing mariachi professionally for years. Now, he’s choosing to major in what’s always been part of his life.
“I’ve been gigging since high school,” Leon said. “It just feels like the next step in my career to educate myself toward what I’m already doing.”
Leon originally started on a business track, but says the new degree feels more personal and purposeful. His mother used to sing with mariachi groups, and now, he’s keeping that tradition alive.
“To be a mariachi is to have the responsibility and the honor to interpret emotion through music,” he said. “It can convey sorrow, happiness — it’s party music, but it’s also deeply emotional.”
Ficsor says MSU Denver's status as a Hispanic-Serving Institution played a major role in the program’s development.
“Our students are asking for this,” Ficsor said. “We want to make sure they feel seen — that this is a place that supports their culture.”
Meza-Burgos agrees. She hopes the new program will inspire a new wave of culturally connected educators and artists.
“Having a degree track in mariachi is going to provide so many more opportunities for students,” she said.
With its launch, MSU Denver isn’t just adding another program to its catalog, it’s helping build a pipeline of mariachi musicians, teachers, and community leaders.
“This program is going to put students into schools,” Meza-Burgos said. “And the impact will be long lasting.”