Giving Opportunities 2021

Mariachi Luz de Oro (MLO) is UC Berkeley’s first and only student-run mariachi group. Created in the Fall of 2012, two students, Estefania Hernandez and Victor Muratalla performed around campus to attract new members and build the foundation for MLO. Today, the group consists of over fifteen active members. MLO promotes musical and cultural diversity within our campus community by increasing exposure to traditional and modern Mexican music. Our mission also aims to provide a welcoming and supportive space for anyone who is interested in mariachi music, no matter their background. 

Mariachi Luz de Oro received their first trajes de charro or traditional mariachi suits worn during performances in the Spring of 2018. Trajes de Charro in Mexican culture are a sign of pride, power, and love for ones community and culture. With your help, MLO will use donations to get new trajes for all of our members. Currently, not all members have their own traje. Understanding that mariachi music can come with many costs, we do not ask our members to pay for their trajes or alterations to it. We want every one of our members to experience the rich history that is the playing in a traje. 

MLO has prided itself on being innovative and adaptable. During COVID-19, our musicians had to find creative ways to continue spreading mariachi music for the Cal community. We managed to record five songs over quarantine. Still, it was unsafe for us to continue gigs—our main source of collecting funds for trajes, transportation, instrument care, etc. We hope to use your donations to help our group recover from COVID-19 and continue performing for our community. 

Lastly, we hope—with your support—to help our incoming members continue their love for music. Currently, our first goal for the next semester is to fix a guitarron. A guitarron is a large bass guitar used in traditional mariachi music. We are lucky enough to provide a few of our musicians with instruments who are passionate about the music. We hope to continue this practice for the years to come.  

“Mariachi allows me to come together with friends and family and enjoy the folk music of my culture. The music itself has also become so versatile and advanced over the past years, and so studying the music has helped me expand my knowledge of theory and arranging, and has overall helped me become a better musician. ¡Que viva la música mas linda del mundo!” - Guillermo (First year) 

Feel free to connect with us at ucbmariachi@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram @ucbmlo! Go bears!!