- Mariachi is Mexican folk music that has roots that date back to 18th century Mexico.

Its rhythm and pulse has the power to change lives.

One example, a musician left his successful band to teach students here at Esperanza Elementary School, the music about our lives.

- My name is Allan Moreno, so I'm the music teacher of Esperanza Elementary School in West Valley City.

We have a program in here.

It's an after school program.

It's a mariachi class.

So we have like now 200 kids.

It's not only to make the great musician of Utah or the first mariachi kids of Utah.

No, it is making a good person.

That's why I use the music to make good kids.

Mariachi, it's about Mexico.

Everything.

It's about us, about our life.

When you play mariachi, you can see your fathers, your people, your houses, everything you left over there to come here.

Uno, dos, tres.

(mariachi music) - It's not easy because everyone ask me how you can teach a lot of kids, like 200.

Playing the trumpets, and everyone's playing the guitars because I really love that.

I really love to teach kids.

So the way that I teach them, I took like 10 kids.

I teach them first.

The best one of the school I teach them.

- You already know.

Good job.

All right, so then - And then the sixth graders help me with the little ones.

And this is something beautiful, cause I teach the kids that if they learn something they have to share with the other one.

We have two mariachi.

We have the mariachi from the elementary school.

They're, they're from second grade to sixth grade and call mariachi Aguilas de le Esperanza.

And the other schools, they don't teach mariachi.

So I have to open my own school.

Academia Mis Raices.

They start to 12 years old to 21 years old.

They already know how to play an instrument, so they can come and continue doing mariachi music.

(woman singing) - So we open the doors for everyone.

Everyone who wants to come to learn something.

I'm gonna wait for them here.

(mariachi music with vocals) (guitar) - Mariachi is really classic.

We used the vihuela it's kind of like a little guitar, with five strings and the sound is really pretty.

We use trumpets, guitars, and the mariachi violins.

And we put accordions too.

And we use the guitarrón, it's a huge guitar.

The sound is really beautiful.

- Ready?

- My kids from my academy, they're making duos with the most famous people in Mexico, and and teachers around the world right now.

We have a teacher in Mexico City and I connect them by Zoom, cause the teacher that we have from Guitarrón, he's the number one of the world, Marco de Santiago.

So the kids have the chance to learn from the best of the world, to use the zooms, you know to connect with other people.

(group speaking Spanish) (violin music) - Everyone knows about Mexico and the news that Mexico's this and that.

Bad things, drugs, dealers.

But we have a lot of things, beautiful things and our song that we are making with those famous people.

It's about the good things that we have because we have to remember what we have.

(guitar music) - Maestro Allan, he puts a lot of effort into us kids learning songs.

And he helps us embrace everybody with everybody's different cultures different emotions, different, different expressions.

- I like mariachi because I like to dance and sing.

Burrito Sabanero.

- It's just, it calms you sometimes or it like relaxes you or it like stop.

If you're stressed, it like stops it.

And that's what I love about mariachi.

- Kids need more spaces to show what they feel right now.

If they have feeling they can play.

And I told my kids, if you feel angry you can play the guitar.

You're gonna feel calm.

If you feel happy, play the guitar.

It's something that you can talk to your guitar.

Kids, they love music.

And I wanna show those kids, they work hard.

They can have the dream come true.

And that's what we're doing it here.

Music changes life.

That's why I love music.

That's what I love to teach those kids that if they wanna do something, they can.

They can be doctors, they can be whatever they want.

You can do stadiums.

Stadiums.

Don't be afraid to show the stadium who you are.

(crowd cheering) (Viva Mexico, Viva America) It's, it is something beautiful.

Mariachi is something beautiful.

You're gonna see Mexico.

When you see a mariachi, you're gonna see everything about us.

Everything.

Cause we got a lot of love.

We got a lot of passion.

(mariachi music with vocals) (crowd cheering)