Mexican music, beloved and rooted in Cuban culture, has a space in the eastern province of Holguin to promote and preserve it.
The contest “Cantando con el Mariachi”, a contest that emerged as an initiative to keep this tradition alive among adults, was also extended to children with the aim of fostering love for this genre and promoting musical talent from an early age.
Raúl Valdés, president of the organizing committee of the event, explained that the idea of the contest in its beginnings was marked by a project that looked for the quarry for possible members of the artistic unit Mariachi Holguín: “For that reason the first edition was made for adults only, but by request of the population, since it is a genre that has roots in our province, we extended it to the children with future ideas of preserving part of that Mexican culture, a music that really reaches the human feelings”.
The also representative of Mariachi Holguín argued that the event also allows promoting the work that for more than 20 years this group has been spreading.
“It is to maintain that legacy, because our culture is very rich, it is very broad and within its cultural range Mexican music is present, even throughout our country there are different types of mariachi and we are really going to maintain it trying to continue with all these editions.”
The fifth edition of the contest was recently held in Holguín and both parents and children were happy with this unique opportunity to share their passion for Mexican music.
Ismir García, 11 years old, who participated in the contest, is grateful for the opportunity: “I always dreamed of singing with a mariachi and it was very nice, it also allowed me to make friends and this is a genre that I will always sing in all the places I can go”.
Cantando con el Mariachi Contest, Holguín
For her part, Yaniuska Góngora, a 14-year-old teenager, another protagonist of this initiative, highlighted the impact that singing with the mariachis caused her for the first time.
Winner, Mexican music contest, Holguín
“I want to study lyrical singing, but Mexican music is in my life, because my dad, who is no longer with us, used to sing it and during the contest I felt as if he was guiding me.”
Yoniel Miguel Pupo studied horn, a very difficult instrument, he also plays a little piano and guitar, but he assures that since he was very little, just two years old, inspired by his grandfather who listened to ranchera songs, he began to sing them.
Mariachi music contestant, Holguin
“My mother saw that I liked Mexican music and was guiding me and encouraging me to sing it, so I got to the contest and it was a very nice experience because there I could make friends and I had the greatest privilege that an amateur can have: singing with the Mariachi de Holguín, it makes me happy to sing this music,” said the young boy.
Ranchera music is part of our cultural identity and it is essential to preserve this tradition among the new generations. This contest allows Mexican music to continue to sound strongly in order to safeguard its legacy and enrich the cultural identity of the region.
*The author would like to thank Olga Morales for her collaboration
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