Every week, a member of the Greater Houston education community is interviewed for Pop Quiz. Please send an email to [email protected] if you know of someone we should interview who has a compelling story to share.
Meet the interviewees
It seemed like the moment could not be more wonderful when high school students from Houston ISD, Zayden Longoria, Giselle Zambrano, and Esmeralda Rodriguez, learned that their Mariachi group had won first place at their regional competition on Saturday.
According to a video footage given to the Houston Landing, the entire team, dressed in marigold suits, burst into cheers, hugs, and emotional ovation when the group’s director, Daisy Zambrano, gave their scores. For the first time in at least three years, their team, the Mariachi Bicentenario from HISD’s Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center, punched their ticket to the state competition with flawless scores from three different judges.
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But the spectacle was about to get even more amazing.
On the way home from their great day, the group stopped at a Whataburger since they were hungry and exhausted. A bus carrying Mariachi Estrella De Mi Tierra from Klein Collins High School, another Mariachi squad from the same competition, pulled up to the restaurant a little while later. Their captains met and agreed to perform an impromptu song for their other diners before the two teams left.
After choosing the traditional mariachi song “La Negra,” they hurried back to their busses to get their instruments. A section of the restaurant was occupied by dozens of high school musicians, some of them were standing on booth chairs. While both Whataburger employees and customers applauded and captured the scene on their phones, the two groups played violins, violins, and flutes in sync.
A video soon went viral after making its way to TikTok. The video received over 2 million views, tens of thousands of comments, and tens of thousands of shares by Thursday afternoon.
Giselle, 17, who plays the vihuela, a Mexican five-stringed guitar; Esmeralda, 17, who plays violin; and Zayden, 18, who leads the ensemble and plays many instruments, were interviewed by the Houston Landing to gain insight into the momentous occasion. From their unique perspective, each dissected the encounter.
The interview that follows has been slightly edited for length and clarity. Responses from interviewees have been categorized by subject.
I understand you guys were
coming off a big win
at the (regional) competition. How long had you been training for that and how much work went into it?
Esmeralda: I was quite pleased with my group. I adore my gang. Yes, I’m quite pleased with us.
GiselleIt seems like you are really anxious when you receive the findings. You have no idea what is ahead. However, as soon as you learn that you have achieved the highest possible score, you get a sudden surge of energy. I’m not sure. All of us leaped. We were all content. A video is available. We give each other hugs. It was a wonderful occasion.
What happened next? How did it turn into
playing in the restaurant
?
Giselle: We all say, “Let’s go to Texas Roadhouse,” on the bus. Then we say, “No,” since the wait is too long. We’ll just wait until tomorrow. We simply wish to continue with our tradition. We went to Whataburger last year, but we didn’t perform there because there wasn’t another group present. However, things were different this year. The other group arrived not even five or ten minutes after we arrived. And it makes us all very glad to be there. It simply had the vibe of a Whataburger community. The sensation was different. Indeed, when everyone has eaten their meal, we ask ourselves, “What now?” Shall we simply head home? “Why don’t you all go and get your instruments?” our directors asked. We just started playing, and it happened.
What did it
feel like to be playing
in that Whataburger?
Zayden: It was very incredible. It was quite wonderful to see some of the students from the mariachi camp at the University of Houston, as I personally know them from the Klein Collins High team. Every time they announced that we would be performing a song, I must admit that I was really enthusiastic. I had the opportunity to play the trumpet. We were so many in number. Since both schools entered their junior varsity and advanced groups, there were actually two groups—well, four. Therefore, everybody who truly understood the song was involved. In all honesty, it seemed as though we were helping one another. It had a sense of community.
Esmeralda: I think it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, which is why it seemed special. I haven’t performed in a restaurant before. Additionally, I found it to be quite special and unforgettable because my Klein friends were present with another group.
Giselle: It’s interesting because you can see that every Whataburger staff was filming us, as well as our directors and customers. It was fantastic.
Whose
idea was it
to start playing?
Zayden: I believe the directors came to an agreement.
Giselle: One of the directors simply gave us a cue, and we all entered at once.
How d you
pick the song
?
Zayden: La Negrais was a broad song, and it was a typical mariachi song. Thus, we ensured that everyone was aware of it.
I would think it
might be hard to do
that with people you hadn t played or practiced with before.
Zayden: Indeed. To be honest, though, everything went smoothly since we all shared the same enthusiasm and spirit. We were all quite enthusiastic and excited after winning (in the competition), as you can see in the video.
When they took a video, I don t know if you
expected it to
go viral like it did
. But when it did take off, what was your
reaction to seeing that
happen?
GiselleWe communicate with the mariachi (team) in a group chat. After sending a screenshot, one of our directors said, “Oh, y’all are going viral.” We all go look at the TikTok and it s already at like 500,000 views. It continued to rise during the entire school day. We look at the comments once in a while because there s a lot of positive comments and it s good to read those.
Zayden:I was kind of moved. It s so heartwarming, especially going through the comments, seeing all of the people who were so supportive. And other Mexicans who realize, this culture, it s being spread to not only just Latinos, but in our group, and the other group from the other high school, they had non-Hispanic students. So it was honestly great to see the culture being spread. That was a lot of the results that we got from the comments. So it was heartwarming to see.
You guys
reached a circle way beyond
that restaurant, way beyond Houston. Tons of people, it seems, were
moved by that video
.
Giselle:Yeah it was great. I saw it on Facebook and I saw it on Instagram and TikTok. It was really cool.
Anything else I haven t asked that would help a reader
understand that moment
or what it
meant to you
?
Zayden:The mariachi setting is mostly seen as for older men. And seeing high schoolers do it, it s just so heartwarming. So I would just say it was a great way to connect our community with our culture.
Asher Lehrer-Small covers Houston ISD for the Landing. Find him@by_ash_lson Instagram and@small_asheron X, or reach him directly [email protected].
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