Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels opens its doors to mariachi camp

Joacim Naranjo plays the trumpet pretty well. But the 16-year-old from East Los Angeles found himself flapping his sore lips like a horse as he and a half dozen other boys tried to master the rapidly cascading sounds of a mariachi song.

That's why he and about 80 boys and girls went to church this week. They were there for mariachi camp, reports Hector Becerra.

"It's about getting the notes down," Joacim said during a break. "Once you get the notes down, you just practice until you can play faster. This camp helps us a lot. Our [school] teacher doesn't know that much about mariachi music. He's more into classical music."

For three days this week, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels played host to the Mariachi USA Foundation's music camp. Most of the children already play in school bands, but many were relative novices when it came to playing music more familiar to their parents.

And the church setting wasn't as random as it may seem. More than 70% of the Los Angeles Archdiocese's 5 million Catholics are Latino — most of Mexican descent. And mariachi music has been embedded in many Catholic rituals, such as Masses for the Virgin of Guadalupe, weddings and funerals.

Read more about mariachi camp here.

Image: Instructor Peter Gonzalez leads Ricardo Valladares, left, and Jose K. Sandoval, students at Middleton Street Elementary in Huntington Park, in practice. Camp participants will perform at the cathedral Sept. 26. Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times