Every year mariachi musician Jóse Hernàndez holds a summer institute that brings kids from all over to learn and play.
Hernàndez is the founder and president of the Mariachi Heritage Society, which created the Mariachi Nationals and Summer Institute.
"It means my whole life. I can't live without music. For me, it's mariachi music," he said.
He is also the founder of two world-famous ensembles: Mariachi Sol de México and Reyna de Los Angeles, America's first all-female professional mariachi ensemble.
"Fourteen years ago I came up with the idea of the Mariachi Nationals, which brings kids from different states, you know, from Nevada, from Arizona, New Mexico, just different states, to come and learn mariachi music," Hernàndez said.
Hernàndez has recorded with the most respected and recognized names in the industry, including Selena, Vicente Fernandez, Luis Miguel, Bryan Adams and the Beach Boys. He's also received four Grammy nominations.
"It connects people so much because there's no generation gap in this music. You know, you could have a six-year-old little girl singing a song, and the grandmother would say, 'Oh, I used to sing that song when I was a kid.'"
"It's something that they feel so much pride for, you know, and it's growing all across the country," Hernàndez added.
"Mariachi Nationals needed a place to host it. We didn't even think about it twice. Our board right away was on board and said yeah," Superintendent of the Anaheim Elementary School District Jesse Chavarria said.
"Being that we are a 90% Latino school district, you know, that is a big component that our board wants to instill and value and kind of promote as much as they can," he added.
"We get together, we practice the songs in our individual classrooms, then we come back together and play what we've learned. We talk about the style and technique used to play mariachi music," Crystal Hernàndez, instructor at Mariachi Nationals and Summer Institute, said.
"I'm really happy to be back. It's such a great opportunity to build camaraderie with your fellow musicians and the community. It's also some of the greatness that comes from Mexico; hopefully it rubs off on you and you become a better musician by the end of that experience," Bruce Flores, a student at Mariachi Nationals and Summer Institute, said.
"I think this is going to help me get better at my music, and it's going to help me become an even better musician," Alex Zepeda, student at Mariachi Nationals and Summer Institute, said.
"Mariachi Nationals is so important for me because we're able to teach the next generation the music that has been carried within our blood and in our family for decades," Crystal Hernàndez added.
"I'm not in the business of creating mariachi musicians. I'm in the business of trying to instill a certain pride in their culture and for them to be great mentors for the younger generations in the future," Jóse Hernàndez said.