September 28, 2022 / Modified oct 6, 2022 11:34 p.m.

Mariachi builds bridges between generations.

Also on Arizona Spotlight; The history of Rukin Jelks and the Rillito Park Racetrack; memories of being a Tucson teen in the 1970s; and a teenager in Hermosillo who is an emerging film composer.

Mariachi Aztlan hero Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School.
Courtesy of Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School on Facebook

Arizona Spotlight

September 29, 2022

NPR
(Download MP3)

Featured on the September 29th, 2022 edition of ARIZONA SPOTLIGHT with host Mark McLemore:

Rulkin Jelks Rancher J. Rukin Jelks (1899-1990), a horse breeder who was a founder of the Rillito Park Racetrack in Tucson.
Rillito Park Foundation

Rillito Old #2 The paddock at the Rillito Park Racetrack, where professional horse racing began in Tucson in the 1940s. This is where spectators could view and asses the competing horses before the races. According to David Leighton, the paddock was surrounded by a retaque fence made of mesquite wood.
Rillito Park Foundation
Rillito Old #1 Rillito Park in the 1950's. Few homes or developments were in the area near 1st Avenue and River Road.
Rillito Park Foundation

Rillito starting gate Riders approach the starting gate and Rillito Racetrack, 2018.
Nick O'Gara/AZPM

  • Meet Sol Silvina , a 16-year-old from Sonora, Mexico, is already writing music that’s being played by orchestras around the world. Her dream is to become the next big name in the exclusive world of film composition. From the Fronteras Desk in Hermosillo, reporter Kendal Blust of KJZZ brings us this story.
Sol Silvina Sol Silvina plays piano in her Hermosillo, Sonora, apartment a month before leaving to Paris.
Kendal Blust/KJZZ

  • One mission of Special Collections at the University of Arizona libraries is to collect and preserve the stories of Tucsonans, stories about topics and events both big and small. Pedro Gonzalez grew up in Barrio Viejo, until his family was displaced by urban renewal. He remains a barrio resident today, and he has been a neighborhood organizer most of his adult life. In this edition of “Archive Tucson”, produced by Aengus Anderson , we’ll hear Gonzalez share some favorite random memories of being a teenager in Tucson in the 1970s.
ugly speedway spotlight 1 Speedway Boulevard, looking east from Alvernon Way in 1977.
Arizona Daily Star
ugly speedway spotlight 2 Another image of Speedway Boulevard in the 1970s.
Arizona Daily Star

archive tucson logo hero “Archive Tucson” is an oral history project of Special Collections at the University of Arizona Libraries. You can find many stories from Tucson's past at archivetucson.com.
courtesy Special Collections

  • And, Hispanic Heritage month runs through mid-October, and Tucson is celebrating with music, dance and tradition. Find out how mariachi has become the way for one group of students to embrace their Mexican heritage, in a story by Paola Rodriguez

Mariachi Aztlán performing Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School perform with vocalist and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra for the annual Mexican Independence Day concert on Thursday, Sep. 15, 2022 at the Fox Theatre in Tucson. The event is hosted by the Consulate of Mexico and Tucson-Mexico Sister Cities.
Jes Ruvalcaba/Tucson Unified School Distrct

Web page by Leah Britton.

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