Eighth Annual Latino Art Fair Performing and Visual Excellence
Dinorah Marquez and the Latino Arts Mariachi Juvenile perform at the Wisconsin King Holiday
Observance at the State Capitol in 2015.
By Jonathan Gramling
This year at the Latino Art Fair, being held on May 7th at the Overture Center, will not only feature the finest Latin-influenced art that Dane County has to offer, but it will also feature the music of Latin America. Dinorah Marquez, director of the Latino Arts String Program out of Milwaukee’s United Community Center, is bringing the Latino Arts Mariachi Juvenile to Overture to play during the art form before the action heads to the Capitol Theater for a performance by the Grammy nominated group Mariachi Herencia de México - Esencia.
The Latino Arts String Program works with primarily Latino students from age five through high school.
“They are trained in European classical music, simple orchestral music,” Marquez said. “And then the big exploration is also folk music from throughout Latin America. And then the mariachi music comes in with the performance ensemble that are mostly focused on Latin American folk music with a great majority of it being Mexican and mariachi music.”
he program is about more than the music, it’s about the culture.
“Our students are either immigrant children or children of immigrants,” Marquez said. “A few of them are second or third generation descendants of immigrants. The focus is for them to learn about their rich cultural heritage through music and also to connect with their families and maybe even their elders who may live with them or live in other parts of Latin America or Mexico or Puerto Rico to connect with them through the music. We’re very deliberate in how we do that through the selection of the music, and the way we ask children to connect with their families about it. But I think one of the big things that does it for them is going, for example, to the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and having people who really don’t know them at all just really rejoice and enjoy the music and applaud the work that they are doing revalidates our cultures to them because that is something that they are not connected to. They don’t live there anymore. Their connections are primarily through family traditions. But we’re living in the United States and it’s a different reality.”
Members of the Latino Arts String Program are just starting to matriculate out of higher education to make their mark on the world.
“Our graduates who are going into music have just recently graduating or ready to graduate,” Marquez said. “I don’t know what they will be doing with that. Several of them have joined us in terms of teaching core, are interested in continuing the program or starting a program like ours. A group of them began what is known in Milwaukee as Mariachi Monarcas, which is the professional mariachi ensemble. They are continuing that tradition through their own professional mariachi group.”
By performing at fairs and events like UMOS’ Mexican Festival, the members mix with some very talented musicians and build their own confidence.
“We have been very blessed because they’ve had the opportunity to work with great artists in a lot of different genres,” Marquez said. “They’ve been able to share a stage with great artists of different genres, everything from Latin jazz to mariachi to Latin rock bands that are influenced by traditional genres of music from Latin America. For example, on May 20, we’ll be opening for a group named La Santa Cecelia. They are an LA-based band. They’re Grammy winners. And an earlier generation of our group recorded with the band in the Grammy-nominated album. Every one of these moments of sharing that kind of reality with artists who are now recognized is really wonderful for the students. There’s an element of ‘Can Do,’ which is important. Their music is difficult and their instruments are very difficult to play. Every time they pick up something new, there are challenges. There can be frustration. There is the process of learning how to meet the frustration, tackle it, rise from it and grow. I think if anything, that is probably one of the greatest lessons that we all get through our music. And then to be able to share it with people who are now recognized in their various genres is really a thrill for students.”
Even the COVID-19 pandemic could not suppress the vitality and energy of the music as the strings program had the youth record separately and then the program would blend the performances together. Music was almost more important during the pandemic.
“I would like to think that it was a boost to the community,” Marquez said. “But more than anything, music was found to be a very healing activity. People were playing out through the windows for their communities. What we tried to do was really create a safe space for all of the students — with all of the uncertainty and loss and grief that they were dealing with — through their music. And I think the community, families and parents were really grateful to still get to have a Christmas Concert that was really beautiful and other activities. We were keeping it alive.”
While the beauty of the art work will enthrall you, the energetic, fast-paced playing of the strings will excite you. Prepare for a multi-faceted artistic experience at the Latino Art Fair on May 7.