SAN ANGELO, Texas — Seguin is about to get loud.
Almost 100 high school mariachi bands from around the state have converged on the city to compete in the 2024 UIL State Mariachi Festival.
Lake View’s Mariachi Caciques will be back again after their triumphant performance last year.
“Now we’re gonna try and replicate what we did last year for the first time and get the sweepstakes award at the state festival, which is the toughest level there is,” director Rosendo Ramos said.
Each group will get a maximum of 10 minutes to perform for three judges who will submit ratings from one (“superior”) to five (“poor”) based on tone, technique and musicianship.
“That rubric has a little bit of everything… Obviously our goal is to get “ones” from every single judge, which is very difficult to do at State-level,” Ramos said. “Out of the 85 to 95 high schools that go, there’s only about 20 to 25 that receive that sweepstakes rating, so it’s a very prestigious thing to get.”
Individual awards are also given.
“So the judges see that you got a “one” and they see that there’re students in there that, they just stick out of all the students, or they’re just performing really well, then they’re able to give these medals,” Ramos said. “And we were able to achieve that last year with one of our all-state mariachi trumpet players, Mr. Issac Carrales.”
Ramos said the dedication his students have makes all the difference.
“On Monday, on Presidents Day, everybody was out of school, but the students showed up and we had a four-hour rehearsal, just to prepare for this contest. So they put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears in these rehearsals and we work on as much detail as we possibly can to get the students prepared,” Ramos said. “It’s tough. I can see that sometimes the students get tired, but I tell them, this is where it counts.“
Under Ramos’ leadership, Mariachi Caciques has made a name for itself, in West Texas and beyond.
“We’re starting to be recognized all around the state, which is really, really awesome for us, but it also holds the students accountable. Like now this is who we are, now we need to make sure that we continue that tradition of excellence, of pushing the students, of having a great product when we go out there, and always representing West Texas and San Angelo, and SAISD of course.”
The Lake View Mariachi will take the stage at 8:15 p.m. Thursday, and the event will be streamed live on The National Federation of State High School Association's website.
*GRITO*