The young members of the renowned Mariachi Master Apprentice Program (MMAP) – Tesoro de San Fernando – are in Washington, D.C. this week as guest performers at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival for this year’s program, “Youth and the Future of Culture.”
Accompanied by their master teachers, Sergio Alonso and Jesús Guzmán, they are performing on the National Mall.
“It’s a huge honor for the students of the MMAP program to be invited,” said Alonso. “They’ve been performing daily and have been collaborating with other groups from all over the United States.”
“It’s not the first time students from the MMAP program have been selected to perform in Washington, D.C.,” said Virginia Diediker, co-founder of the program. She fondly notes the program’s history of accomplishment. “In 2012, MMAP won the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award and performed at the Kennedy Center and the White House during the Obama administration.”
At the same time, she acknowledged the unique opportunity the students from San Fernando have at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The music component is much more than putting on a performance. Held at a national landmark and public space, it affords the opportunity to interact and share their diversity and musical genre with the public, including tourists walking through the National Mall. It’s also designed as an enrichment opportunity for the musicians to interact.
Since arriving, the young members of MMAP have met other apprentice groups in the festival from Hawaii, Alaska, Tennessee, Vermont and Mississippi that include the musical traditions of contradance, hip-hop, bluegrass, pop and classical music.
The festival’s lineup also includes local D.C. and national musicians representing a broad range of folk music that seeks to honor and preserve a musical heritage.
MMAP represents the musicianship and culture of the Mariachi.
Their participation in proximity to our nation’s capital during a time of turmoil inflicted on their community back home and across the country isn’t lost on the young Mariachi musicians as they represent an art form that reflects the cultural traditions and musical history of Mexico.
“They are proudly sharing techniques, skills, talent, culture, their beauty and their social values,” said Diediker.
To watch MMAP’s performance live from the National Mall via livestream on Friday, July 4, 7-10 p.m. PST, go to: https://festival.si.edu/event/roots-voices-americana-reimagined
For more information about the folklife festival, go to: https://festival.si.edu/