My Name is Jesus (Chuy) Hernandez; I was born in Mexicali, BC
in 1952. I began as a trumpet player at the age of eleven in the school band. I
continued to play all through Jr. High and High school thanks to the support of
my parents: Esteban and Eva Hernandez.

I continued my education at Loyola Mary Mount University where
I acquired my bachelors of arts in education. In 1975, I began my mariachi
career with Pedro Rey (my older brother) and Los Galleros. By the then I had
become a guitar player and no longer played the trumpet.

My musical evolution took me to eventually start Mariachi Sol
de Mexico with my brother Jose Hernandez in 1981. To this day, I am still
playing with Mariachi Sol de Mexico and enjoying every minute of it.

I thank God everyday for the little talent that he has given
me; only he knows how long my tenure will be. "Viva el Mariachi"!

mi nombre es juan jose contreras cruz,naci en tecalitlan jalisco el 24 de junio de 1981.soy musico de abolengo pertenesco ala cuarta generacion de musicos de mi familia,comence a tocar ala edad de 11 anos en un mariachi integrado solo por ninos llamado ''mariachi infantil tecalitlan'' despues a ese grupo se integro mi papa y mi tio y mas elementos y el grupo cambio de nombre a ''mariachi teca '' . despues me fui para guadalajara donde fui parte de el ''mariachi los potrillos de el maestro crecencio hernandez'' donde permanaci por dos anos y medio,luego regrese por un breve tiempo a mi tierra e ingrese al ''mariachi reyes de jalisco'',regrese nuevamente a guadalajara para integrarme al ''mariachi internacional guadalajara'' de german gutierrez y a estudiar clases de violin con el maestro sergio caratachea y tambien estudie en la escuela superior de musica ''aurea corona''.actualmemte me encuentro en uno de los mejores mariachis del mundo como lo es el ''mariachi sol de mexico de jose hernandez'' aquien le agradesco por darme la oportunidad de permanecer a esta gran institucion.

nació en Ensenada Baja California Norte, México, el 27 de Septiembre de 1979. Su familia por parte de su madre es familia de músicos de mariachi empezando por su abuelo (q.e.p.d.) que empezó desde muy joven tocando el violín, después de él, tres de sus hijos, salieron músicos de mariachi, el menor de ellos, su tío
Ernesto Molina, fue el que a Mario y a su hermano les enseno a tocar la música de mariachi.

Mario empezó tocando la vihuela a la edad de ocho años, el primer grupo donde trabajo fue el Mariachi Corona de refugio Bañuelos, después se fue a trabajar a Tijuana con el Mariachi Águilas del Sol, bajo la dirección de Jorge "terry" Flores, después de dos años con este grupo, regreso a Ensenada donde el Mariachi Jalisco le dio la oportunidad de trabajar con ellos, en el año de 1997 Mario y su hermano se mudaron a Los Ángeles California, donde su hermano Pedro, formo parte del Mariachi Sol de México de José Hernández tocando el guitarrón. Mario trabajaba como vihuelista con el Mariachi que en aquel entonces se llamaba sol de America. En el año 2003, su hermano decidió salir del Sol de Mexico y le pregunto que si queria tomar su lugar en el grupo como guitarronista, aunque Mario no tocaba el guitarron, eran tantos los deseos de Mario entrar al Mariachi
sol de Mexico, que decidio hacer una audición como guitarronista para entrar al grupo, con mucha fortuna, fue aceptado por el director Jose Hernandez. Su estancia con el Mariachi Sol de Mexico ha sido muy grata, ha tenido la oportunidad de acompanar a grandes artistas tales como, Luis Miguel, Jose Feliciano, Ana Barbara, Arturo Sandoval, entre otros grandes artistas.

Fernando Moreno, violinist/vocalist was born in Tucson Az. to Mexican parents. Which is where his love for Mariachi music was nourished at a very young age. He began playing violin at the age of 12, in A youth group named Mariachi Los Changuitos Feos. Soon after he continued working professionally with Mariachi Cobre at Walt Disney World in Florida. He has now been a member of Mariachi Sol de Mexico since 1993. He also teaches voice to young mariachi enthusiasts at the Mariachi heritage Society. His hobbies are painting photography.

Angelina began dancing at the young age of 9 and became a member of the Flamenco Y Más dance company at 16. She has toured throughout the United States as a featured artist, and lived in Albuquerque New Mexico to study and perform under the direction of renowned flamenco artist Joaquin Encinias with his company Yjastros. She now resides in Scottsdale, AZ where you can see her at the Hyatt Resort with the energizing Mosaico Flamenco.

Veronica Castro is a professional dancer, director, and teacher. A native of Tucson, she graduated from Sunnyside High School and later attended Northern Arizona University where she was a member of their dance team. After graduating with honors, she moved back to Tucson and began teaching at Marana High School.
During her years teaching dance in Tucson, she attended workshops all over the country, performed with many local groups in Arizona, and taught 1st-4th grade hip hop for the Center of Hispanic Performing Arts (CHISPA).

In 2006, she was hired as the Manager of the Performing Arts production for Up With People’s World Tour where she expanded her production skills to a professional level. She produced and directed the show in ten countries and three continents. Veronica has taught dance and directed shows in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Japan, and Thailand. Living and working with people from over 30 different countries with various levels of performing arts abilities increased her cross-cultural competency and teaching skills.
Her expertise and enthusiasm for her craft make her an extremely popular instructor and director for dancers of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures. She is well sought after as a teacher, director, dance judge, show manager, coordinator, and performer, in the U.S. and internationally.

Olga Flores is a native Tucsonan and started her musical career in 4th grade playing violin in orchestra. Soon after, she was listening to a mariachi group perform and fell in love with the music. Olga immediately joined Los Changuitos Feos de Tucson , the first youth mariachi group established in the United States. Soon after graduating from high school and Los Changuitos Feos, she performed professionally with local mariachi groups.

Olga recently started her solo career as a vocalist, performing for events including the 2004 Los Changuitos Feos 40th Anniversary Celebration with Mariachi Cobre, the last four Tucson International Mariachi Espectacular and Garibaldi Fiesta where she also had the honor of performing with Los Camperos de Nati Cano. Other recent shows include the "2006 Nuestras Raices, Homenaje De La Vida De Lalo Guerrero", where she performed with traditional "Trio", and Mariachi, singing some of his famous composed songs, including his infamous "Barrio Viejo". This tribute made history by being the first Hispanic Event featured at the
re-opening of the FOX Theatre, a Tucson Landmark. .

In August of 2006, she was a featured soloist at the "Viva Arizona" Concert, accompanied by Mariachi Plata de Las Vegas and Trio "Los Hermanos Perez".

Olga's specialty is classic Rancheras and Boleros though she has shown her diversity by recording and working with other genres such as Flamenco, Hip Hop and Rhythm & Blues, and most recently “Grupera”. Olga will once again be featured in the "2007 VIVA! Arizona" concert where she will be performing traditional songs and premiering her latest Grupera.

 

iMas was founded in 2005 by Luis Ranjel with the idea of combining traditional tejano music with a Modern (and local) twist. Always striving for innovation, iMas combines the flavors of Tex-Mex and Norteno music with those of Funk, Rock, Oldies, Big Band, Salsa, and much more to create a sound that is
trans-generational. With a four-piece brass section, accordion, and a versatile and multi-talented corp of trained musicians, iMas has turned heads on every
level, appe aring at numerous local venues and events and was invited to attend the 2007 Tejano Music Convention in Las Vegas, NV and will again attend the Convention in Dallas, TX this year. iMas released its first album entitled "Mucho Corazon" in 2007 and is currently recording its sophomore effort.

Jorge was born on March 10, 1968 in Guadalajara Jalisco. Since he was a young boy, it showed that he had a gift for dance, because it came quite naturally.

Jorge took 6 years of Mexican Folklorico Dance at the Institute of Bellas Artes de Jalisco. He also took classes in dance for teachers at the University of Autonoma from Baja, California. Jorge has taken numerous classes and workshops at the national and international level in the United States, South America, Germany, Greece and of course, Mexico.

Jorge has 22 years experience in folklorico dance and is the director and choreographer of Ballet Folklorico Macuixochitl, formerly of Jorge Orozco who recently passed away.

Los Hermanos Perez started playing professionally in 1952 at the young ages of Frank 19, Freddie 15 and Johnny 13 on a local radio show called KTKT. They attribute inheriting their musical talents from their grandmother Fermina, on their mother’s side of the family. Frank recalls learning his first cords at the age of 12, then teaching his younger brothers how to play strictly by ear. They fell in love with the bolero sound performed by the trio Los Panchos.  From that point on they knew this would be their style and legacy.   

In 1956 the brothers joined the military which lead them to sing a duet in Weisbaden, Germany.  Frank then created a group called Los Elegantes in 1961.  His group performed contemporary Latin American music with 4 part harmonies.  They toured the Nevada night club circuit and with the USO Vietnam Tour while entertaining American troops. Frank led this group to record 6 singles during this era.   

Freddie and Johnny had moved to the San Francisco Bay area and continued playing in a group called the Wetbacks.  Frank then followed them to the bay area in 1970.  

In 1985 they decided move back to Tucson and reunite Los Hermanos Perez after 30 years.  Due to popularity and demand for their music, they started playing at a local nightclub and continued performing for special appearances.   

In 2003 their CD “Nostalgia” was finally released.  Los Hermanos Perez recorded the CD to express their gratitude to all Tucsonans who have supported them, their careers and their music for over half a century.

Addison Johnson has been a crucial part of the Tucson hip-hop community for approximately five years. His background includes dancing with various groups in the community such as Breakdown, Ixora, Protege, and currently, Human Project, allowing him to work with prestigious choreographers from all across the United States. He is a choreographer at Gotta Dance! Dance Academy, as well as other various venues locally. He has an extensive gymnastics background, and coach/assist at several locations.

Originally from Sonora Mexico, Gerardo moved to the Tucson in 1999. Gerardo’s introduction to Salsa occurred when he started attending local salsa clubs in Tucson. Motivated by what he saw on the dance floor, he immediately set about to become a salsa dancer. After meeting a local Cuban teacher, Ernesto Cardenas, Gerardo was introduced to Cuban rhythms such as timba and songo. Gerardo was invited by Ernesto to form a new “rueda de casino” dance team that was put together to create an opening dance performance for highly acclaimed Cuban band Cubanismo. After acquiring a strong foundation in “casino”, Gerardo set about to start teaching “rueda de casino” for the official University of Arizona salsa club, Ritmos Latinos.
Lupita was the first of her immediate family to be born in the United States. Her family moved from Sonora, Mexico and she was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. She somehow knew that she had a great spark of interest for salsa music and dance ever since she was younger. She would go local salsa clubs and had a craving to one day learn, what others seemed to do with ease. She met Gerardo through a friend and received two lessons from Gerardo and became hooked to both salsa and Gerardo.
After a few years of teaching “rueda de casino”, Gerardo and Lupita decided to start a project whose mission would be to expose salsa music and dance to the Tucson community, hence the existence of Salsón Dance Company. Lupita and Gerardo also began a Salsa club at Santa Clara Elementary School with 4th and 5th grade students to encourage youth to build self-esteem and learn to dance. To further expose salsa they started a Sunday Social in Tucson to provide a family environment where all ages can dance salsa. Gerardo and Lupita will continue their journey of music and dance for many more years to come.

Anton Smith, is the founder and artistic director of The Human Project, Southern AZ's 1st and oldest professional urban dance company. Originally from Philadelphia, he has had the privelege to train with notable dance artists such Ione Nash, Richie "Crazy Legs" Colon, Brian Freedman, Dave Scott, Rennie Harris and more. His unique choreographic style has afforded him the opportunity to travel to varoius locales ranging from Brazil, Europe and all throughout the US, in addition to winning numerous awards and competitions. For more info about his classes or The Human Project check him out at myspace.com