Name: Mariachi Band
Price range: $$

The NZ Mariachi band was founded with the goal of introducing mariachi music to New Zealanders. The band’s songlist includes a generous selection of Mexican Mariachi rhythms such as Guapangos, Ranchera, Sones and other fusions of Latin music, including Cumbia, Bolero etc. Depending on the occasion, the band can be made up of two to five members playing the following instruments: guitarron, guitar, trumpet, violin, maracas and singers. All performances are carried out in authentic mariachi costume. Mariachi is a form of folk music from Mexico. The name refers to the music, the musicians and the band/orchestras that play it. Mariachi began as a regional folk style called “Son Jaliscience” in the center west of Mexico originally played only with string instruments and musicians dressed in the white pants and shirts of peasant farmers. From the 19th to 20th century, migrations from rural areas into cities such as Guadalajara and Mexico City, along with the Mexican government’s cultural promotion gradually changed this Son style, with its alternate name of “mariachi” becoming used for the “urban” form. Modifications of the music include influences from other music such as polkas and waltzes, the addition of trumpets and the use of charro outfits by mariachi musicians. The musical style began to take on national prominence in the first half of the 20th century, with its promotion at presidential inaugurations and on the radio in the 1920s. Mariachi is the most treasured traditional music in Mexico. Mexicans consider it as a cultural emblem as it celebrates their history, joys, struggles, and triumphs. Their life events are incomplete without a Mariachi performance from presidential inaugurations to weddings, birthdays, baptisms, and funerals. In 2011, UNESCO declared the music genre as Mexico’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. Mariachi is unique mainly because of the contrasting sounds from its musical instruments: the gentle tones of the violins against the blast of trumpets and the deep resonating melody of the guitarron against the crisp lilting notes of the vihuela. These sounds seamlessly shift from off to on beat rhythms to generate a distinct music that is now solely associated with Mexico.

Mariachi NZ Jarabe Tapatio

Mariachi NZ Traditional

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