PRESS RELEASE:

KUED kicks off the PBS Arts Summer Festival Friday, June 29 at 8:00 p.m. with Mariachi High, documenting a year in the life of “Mariachi Halcon,” a top-ranked competitive high-school mariachi band in the rural ranching town of Zapata, Texas.

The PBS Arts Summer Festival, airing Fridays at 8 p.m., is a seven-part event anchored by films that highlight art, artists and performances from around the world.

Using the band and its music as a lens, Mariachi High focuses on Mexican-American teenagers pursuing excellence and finding strength in themselves, as well as a connection to their cultural heritage.

Despite the economic challenges in Zapata and its school district, charismatic mariachi director Adrian Padilla creates a championship-level music ensemble that can compete against larger, more privileged schools from around Texas. The determined students in Mariachi Halcon are not only gifted musicians, but also gifted students – among Zapata High School’s academic top 10 percent. In the past five years, all of the students who spent four years in Mariachi Halcon graduated from high school and went on to an institution of higher learning.

“At a time when Latinos have the highest dropout rate in the country and when arts education continues to be under attack, we found a story of teens who pursue excellence through their cultural heritage despite some very real challenges,” says Mariachi High producer and director Ilana Trachtman. “This is an exuberant story about ambitious and talented Mexican-American teenagers — whom you hardly ever see on screen.”

Other films in the series include Islamic Art, John Leguizam's Tales from a Ghetto Klown, Homecoming: The Kansas City Symphony, Havana, Havana and The Barnes Collection.

At the end of each program, KUED will air segments highlighting related local arts groups produced by Gary Turnier and Mary Dickson.

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