SC North Mariachi Band from schools Facebook page.
Sioux City North High School is the latest Iowa school to add a mariachi band to its extracurricular offerings and 20 students will perform their first mariachi concert tonight on this Cinco de Mayo.
Junior Jose Vallodalid is among the 20 performers and says he feels privileged to go to a school that embraces the music he hears in his home. Vallodalid says, “I kind of grew up with mariachi music a lot, just around me. So I was like, ‘Oh, this is perfect,’ and it just felt natural to me.” Hispanic and Latino students make up the majority of North High School’s student body.
Band director Kamal Talukder says they added the musical group after seeing Denison Community School District’s band perform. Talukder says, “At the end of that performance, we had a lot of kids that are like, ‘Are we going to start one? When are we gonna have a mariachi band?’ and it’s been something that the community has been asking for for years.” Talukder says it’s a way for these students to connect with their culture and he notes, many kids in the band grew up listening to the songs they now get to perform.
Sioux City North is part of a growing number of Iowa schools embracing the traditional Mexican music form. Schools in Ottumwa, West Liberty and Storm Lake have all begun mariachi programs in the last five years.
(By Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)