Mariachi Las Cimas unites cultures at Briar Cliff

By LORI BERGLUND
Special to Lumen Media
 
            There is power in music. The rhythm of the notes, the rise and fall of the melody speak a language that can often be understood by people of many different tongues. At Briar Cliff University, an old genre of music is planting a new foothold in the region, welcoming young people to campus in a unifying effort of culture and music.

            “Music reaches the innermost corners of our souls,” said Dr. Brian Cook, director of choral activities and assistant professor of music at Briar Cliff. “Music somehow speaks to us in ways that words alone cannot. I’m not sure what it is, but it seems to be the language of the angels.”

            A native of Colorado, Cook earned his undergraduate degree in Idaho and completed his graduate degree in Texas. He has been at Briar Cliff for five years. It was a two-year volunteer stint as a Christian missionary in Central America that first exposed Cook to the beauty of Mariachi music.
           He is now bringing that love of the genre to Briar Cliff with a new Mariachi Academy — dubbed Mariachi Las Cimas de Briar Cliff (top Mariachi of Briar Cliff) — aimed at high school students and offered as a way of furthering their music education while also showing the students what Briar Cliff has to offer as they consider college choices ahead.
            “I lived in Central America for two years as a young adult missionary, and I learned to love the Latino culture,” Cook explained. “I have carried that love of the Latino culture with me ever since.

            With his career in music and music education, it’s only natural that Cook would have gravitated to learning more about Central America through its music. Sometimes described as Mexican or Latino folk music, Mariachi music relies on an often lively mix of brass and string instruments, including violins and specialized guitars.

            “It’s very joyful music,” Cook said. “Often the lyrics talk about love or romance and the wonderful parts of life. But, of course, there are also tunes that are a little bit slower-paced, more reflective, and talk about the loss of love, or the loss of life.”

            The Irish have jigs to make them dance and Danny Boy to make them cry. Many central European countries, including Poland and Germany, claim Polka music as their own. To this day, the descendants of those long-ago European immigrants celebrate an annual Polka Mass at an eastern Iowa Catholic church. Now, a new immigrant population is adding its music to the mix.

            “When I came to northwest Iowa, I thought, ‘Well, we have a wonderful Latino population here, and being a Catholic university it really resonates to reach out,” Cook said. ‘It’s a good place to host a Mariachi band. Many Latinos share the Catholic faith and share a love of music.”

            For Cook, music is always a way of bringing people together. To know the music of a culture is to know something of the heart and soul of the people. It is this desire to reach out to people that inspired the new Mariachi Academy.

            The student musicians come together twice each week for rehearsal. While the group has been as high as 20 young musicians, it has settled to core group of about 12 to 15, now performing in the local area. There is no cost to the students, but it will offer an opportunity for great musical growth.

            “One of my favorite things about the genre is that the musicians are consummate musicians,” Cook said. “This means that they both play an instrument and sing. They will be playing, and then they will set down their instrument for several measures and they will start singing.”
            Because they are secondary students and still learning, Cook also sees it as a mentoring opportunity to expose them to music, as well as to what Briar Cliff has to offer.

            “I hope to develop it into a collegiate program,” Cook said. “I am actively recruiting high schoolers to come to Briar Cliff and, in any major of their choice, to also develop their skills in Mariachi,” he said. In whatever degree program they may one day choose, Mariachi is a talent that can stay with them, even allowing them to perform throughout life.

            “I do hope many of these students will choose Briar Cliff,” he added. “They can earn music scholarships and study in any field. They are familiar with our university and our professors.”

            While Cook is the group’s founder, Mariachi Las Cimas de Briar Cliff is under the direction of Miguel Grima, a professional Mariachi musician working in Sioux City.

            “We are very fortunate to have a professional Mariachi musician as conductor and someone that the students can really learn from,” Cook said.

            Mariachi Las Cimas de Briar Cliff had a few public performances this spring. The group performed recently at Storm Lake High School and is set to play on April 12 in Denison.

            Locally, Mariachi Las Cimas de Briar Cliff will be performing on campus at 6 p.m. on April 29, as part of a program featuring the entire music department at Briar Cliff.

            In addition, Cook is working on tentative plans to take a play on Briar Cliff’s Franciscan roots and create a Franciscan de Mayo celebration on May 5. Those plans are still in the works.

            The Mariachi Academy has benefited from a number of grants designed to reach out to young people through music. The Kind World Foundation awarded a $20,000 grant to assist with the purchases of instruments, instructor development and future festivals. The program has also benefited from a $10,000 grant from the Gilchrist Foundation and $8,000 from Unity in Action. A local donation drive netted $5,000.

            To Cook, it’s all about kids from many different cultures coming together in pursuit of learning from each other and sharing their love of music.

            For more information about a student becoming a part of the academy or to support its work, contact Cook at (712) 279-5548 or [email protected].
 
 
Lori Berglund is a freelance writer based out of Dayton. She is a member of Holy Trinity Parish, Webster County.