CSN’s mariachi band wins national competition

Las Vegas Review-Journal

3 years ago

Mariachi Plata violinist Precious Carrasco performs during a Latinx Heritage Month kickoff even ... — Mariachi Plata violinist Precious Carrasco performs during a Latinx Heritage Month kickoff event in the Tyrone Thompson Student Union at the College of Southern Nevada on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, in North Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt

The College of Southern Nevada’s Mariachi Plata took top honors this month at a national competition.

The group won first place at the Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza in San Antonio, Texas, the Nevada System of Higher Education announced Monday. It has participated in the competition since 2019.

“I am so proud of our Mariachi Plata, which we started in my first year at CSN,” CSN President Federico Zaragoza said in a news release. “Las Vegas has a large and talented Hispanic and Mexican community and mariachi speaks to who we are as a Mexican community.

Mariachi Plata includes students from the Las Vegas Valley community college’s mariachi courses through the fine arts music curriculum.

In addition to the group’s overall first place award, vocalist Jose Mejia won third place in the individual competition.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.