Above: Mariachi Internacional performs on stage at LVA’s Lowden Theater. Photo by Cashman Photo

Viva UNIDOS!

By Kendall Hardin

In the music industry – as in all industries – when you need to innovate, you must collaborate. The mixing of minds leads to that special synergy that fuels brand-new ideas with bigger and better outcomes than anyone imagined at the start.

That’s exactly how the UNIDOS Project was hatched as a collaboration between the Youth Artists Orchestra of Las Vegas (YAO) and the Las Vegas Academy for the Arts (LVA) Mariachi Internacional, with a bevy of supporting cast members.

The Nevada Community Learning Project, which funded the initiative, chose UNIDOS as one of the top 20 proposals in the state. The project allowed students and young professionals to learn, perform and record traditional mariachi music in a symphonic format.

UNIDOS was the brainchild of Cuban-born violist Yunior Lopez, founder, music director and conductor of YAO. Lopez is also a chamber musician extraordinaire and entrepreneur/CEO of Lord of the Cigars Corporation in Miami. Working alongside David Rivera, director of LVA’s Mariachi Internacional, the project immediately gelled.

On May 25, a concert performance of 20 mariachis and nearly 80 classical musicians filled the stage at LVA’s Lowden Theater. The following day, everyone was in four rooms of UNLV’s recording studio, ready to record seven tracts in one day with Maestro Lopez conducting.

“With over 100 people, the top concern was achieving musical balance,” cited Lopez. “Most of our young musicians had never been in a recording studio, but they were incredibly well prepared. There was no overdubbing. It was all in real-time at the same time.”

Add to the mix three of the most celebrated arrangers in the field: California-based Alberto “Beto” Jimenez Maeda (official arranger for LVA’s Machiachi Internacional), Arturo Hernandez (proud alum of LVA) and Canadian Roberto Occhipinti (revered as a jazz bassist and all-around composer). Cuban songbird Noybel Gorgoy provided amazing vocals.

John Seaton, director of LVA’s band program, assisted with specialized percussion instruments. Chuck Foley, Gil Krupp and other UNLV audio engineers handled all the advanced technical recording support.

“We couldn’t find any other mariachi symphonic recording like the one we just completed in Las Vegas,” explained Lopez. “Mariachi Sinfonico will be available in Dolby Atmos, the futurist ‘spatial audio’ that allows listeners to hear the recording in an immersive environment much like that of a state-of-the-art movie complex.”

The UNIDOS recording recently launched, taking off like a rocket loaded with brand-new fuel. Shifting to a fully digital platform release allows UNIDOS artists to provide original content directly for the Apple Music catalog and other portals like Spotify, bypassing the need for CDs. “We may do a limited run of LPs, though,” Lopez mulled. “They’re coming back in style.”

“We’re already registering for a Grammy!” grinned Rivera. “I’m hoping we can create an ongoing partnership every year – perhaps in the form of a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) concert in the fall at The Smith Center or Lowden Theater. We need to think big.”

It’s forever astonishing what creative, enterprising minds can do, regardless of age, background or location.

According to entrepreneur recording executive Scooter Braun (who signed dozens of stars like Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande and Kanye West): “As a music industry, if we remain in competition, then we die. We have to understand that we’re all in this together. Collaboration and synergy, it’s one of the most important things out there.”

Note: In its inaugural year, the Nevada Community Learning Project brings the Nevada Future of Learning Network’s Portrait of a Nevada Learner initiative to life, transforming education with hands-on experiences for students in partnership with the Nevada Department of Education, Teach for America and local institutions.