SAN ANTONIO — The sounds of mariachi music can be heard at The University of Texas at San Antonio's main campus.
For the first time, it is holding a summer camp all week for mariachi music. Two of the 28 students attending are Emir Perez and Padraig Salinas-McCoy.
The dedicated students, in the middle of their summer break, are building on their love of mariachi music.
"It is a way for me to connect to my culture," Perez said.
"I love mariachi," Salinas-McCoy said. "I practice every day."
The two high schoolers are both trumpet players. The students from across Texas are practicing for more than four hours a day.
The brains behind the camp is UTSA's Mariachi Program Director Michael Acevedo.
"It was time to have it," Acevedo said. "And for the culture and the community. There are people that have been playing for years. We have people who don't have mariachi in their schools. So, they are coming to this camp to learn the mariachi genre."
As for Perez, he is driving every day from Pflugerville, and said he doesn't have a mariachi program at his school.
"It is an early start, and a late end," he said. "But, I am willing to make the trip. I am not going to find it anywhere else."
The students said this is an experience that's truly sharpening their skills that they will be able to really utilize in the future.
"I want to do mariachi as a career hopefully," Salinas-McCoy said.
"Mariachi isn't just a phase," Perez said. "It is going to be a way of life."
The camp also allows the students to go ahead and practice for their region competition, so that they could potentially make it to state.
This Thursday, they will have a recital that's open to everyone. It will be at 4:30 p.m. in the UTSA Arts Building Recital Hall.
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