Breakout Session
Mariachi in Your Studio?
Saturday, June 23 • 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Presenters: Marcia Neel, Monica Fogelquist
Introduced by: Linda J. Snyder
Location: Cohiba 10-11
Ever thought about expanding your studio by including mariachi literature? Along with the bourgeoning Latino demographic in the United States, the popularity of the mariachi genre is also growing exponentially and as it does, it is becoming increasingly mainstream in our concert halls as well as in the school music curriculum. Of all of the instruments of the traditional mariachi ensemble—violins, trumpets, guitars, vihuelas and guitarrones—the one that is most evident, but most often overlooked in training, is the voice. In this session, internationally-renowned mariachi vocalist, Monica Fogelquist, will unpack the elements of the mariachi vocal style through the exploration of techniques relating to vocal production, diction, and a special focus on the interpretive skills that bring this vibrant repertoire to life. ¡Viva el mariachi! Also joining Monica is Marcia Neel a national leader in the development of mariachi programs.
About Marcia Neel
A choral director by training, Marcia Neel served as a music educator for over 22 years before being appointed to the position of Secondary Fine Arts Coordinator for the Clark County School District—the nation’s fifth largest—headquartered in Las Vegas, NV, where she served for another 14 years. During the course of those years, she led the Secondary Music Education Program to a total class count of over 55,000 in 56 middle and 38 high school music programs and over 100,000 in Secondary Fine and Performing Arts overall.
By way of her National Mariachi Workshops for Educators® held each summer in Las Vegas, Marcia has been instrumental in starting or further developing over 150 mariachi programs across the nation. Because of her prominence in this particular field, Marcia was called upon by the White House Initiatives for Educational Excellence for Hispanics to serve as a presenter for the National Policy Forum on Music and the Arts hosted by Pixar Studios.
She is President of Music Education Consultants, Inc., and also serves as the Education Advisor to the Music Achievement Council, a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization sponsored by the National Association of School Music Dealers (NASMD) and the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM).
About Monica Fogelquist
Monica A. Fogelquist is a teacher, student, and professional mariachi performer. She began studying the violin in Whittier, California under the Suzuki Method when she was seven years old. Her father, a professional mariachi musician, moved the family to Wenatchee, Washington in 1993, where he pursued a career in bilingual education and started the first student mariachi program in the Pacific Northwest. While a student at Whittier College, she became a member of Mariachi Reyna de Los Ángeles, America’s first all-female professional mariachi ensemble. In 2008, she enrolled at San Diego State University, where she obtained a BCLAD teaching credential with an emphasis in Spanish. She taught mariachi classes at various schools in the Sweetwater School District before teaching courses in Spanish, social studies, and general education in the Chula Vista Elementary School District. In 2013, Monica was recruited by the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, to perform in their premiere mariachi ensemble during Master’s Degree studies in music with an emphasis in Ethnomusicology. She teaches mariachi at Chaparral High School in the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, NV.
