MARIACHITLÁN for Wind Ensemble by JUAN PABLO CONTRERAS (Mexico,1987)
[#370] Aug 24, 2026
Mexico | 2016/2021 | Wind Ensemble | Grade 5 | 10’ | Tone poem
Premiered by Darmouth College Wind Ensemble by Brian Messier
on May 27,2022 at Spaulding Auditorium at Hopkins Center for the Arts
This piece is available for purchase at Juan Pablo Contreras
Mariachitlán, by Mexican composer Juan Pablo Contreras is our Composition of the Week.
Mariachitlán was written for orchestra in 2016, and premiered on December 9, of that same year at the Teatro Degollado; Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, by the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Salmon Del Real.
The work was awarded the 2016 Jalisco Orchestral Composition Prize and later on was nominated for the 2019 Latin Grammy Awards as best arrangement.
Mariachitlán exists in two other versions, for medium large orchestra and for wind ensemble. The Wind Ensemble version of Mariachitlán was commissioned by the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble, in memory of Scott G. Smedinghoff GR ‘17, and a consortium of wind bands, and it was finished in 2021. The first performance took place on May 27, 2022, at the Spaulding Auditorium at Hopkins Center for the Arts, with Brian Messier conducting.
Mariachitlán has a duration of about 10 minutes, and it is scored for standard wind ensemble setting, including soprano saxophone, contrabass clarinet, string bass, piano, harp and four percussion parts. The music is on rental from the composer.
“Mariachitlán recounts my experience visiting the Plaza de los Mariachis in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, a place where mariachis play their songs in every corner and interrupt each other to win over the crowd." My observant spouse also likened it to hearing your car radio keep losing the signal and drifting between stations -- in this case from a canción ranchera to a vals romántico to a son jalisciense, and back -- beguiling, ear-tickling, fun. Mariachitlán (Mariachiland) is an orchestral homage to my birthplace, the Mexican state of Jalisco, where mariachi music originated. The work recounts my experience visiting the Plaza de los Mariachis in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, a place where mariachis play their songs in every corner and interrupt each other to win over the crowd In Mariachitlán, traditional rhythms such as the canción ranchera (ranchera song) in 2/4 time (choon-tah choon-tah), the vals romántico (romantic waltz) in 3/4 time (choon-tah-tah), and the son jalisciense (Jalisco song) that alternates between 6/8 and 3/4 time, accompany original melodies inspired by the beautiful landscapes of Jalisco. Mariachi instruments such as the trumpet, harp, and violin are featured as soloists in this work. Furthermore, the strings emulate the strumming patterns of vihuleas, while the contrabasses growl like guitarrones. Near the end of the piece, a policeman blows his whistle in an attempt to stop the party. However, the crowd chants Mariachitlán, gradually increasing in intensity, and is rewarded with more vibrant music that ends the work with great brilliance. Program Note by Juan Pablo Contreras
Juan Pablo Contreras holds degrees in composition from the University of Southern California (DMA), the Manhattan School of Music (MM), and the California Institute of the Arts (BFA). His most influential teachers include Richard Danielpour, Daniel Catán, Nils Vigeland, Andrew Norman, and Donald Crockett. He currently (2022) teaches orchestration and music theory at the USC Thornton School of Music.
The Latin Grammy nominated composer combines Western classical and Mexican folk music in a single soundscape. Contreras' works have been performed by 30 major orchestras in the United States, Mexico, Slovakia, Colombia, Argentina, and Venezuela. He is celebrated as the first Mexican composer to sign a record deal with Universal Music, serve as Sound Investment Composer with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and win the BMI William Schuman Prize. In the 2021-22 season, his award-winning work Mariachitlán debuted at Walt Disney Concert Hall and Carnegie Hall, with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of the USA.
Contreras has received commissions from the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, The Riverside Choir, Carlos Prieto, and the Onix Ensemble. He has won awards including the Presser Music Award, the Jalisco Orchestral Composition Prize, the Brian Israel Prize, the Pi Kappa Lambda Award, the Arturo Márquez Composition Contest, the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, the Dutch Harp Composition Contest, the Nicolas Flagello Award, and the Young Artist Fellowship of Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and the Arts.
Contreras has also served as composer-in-residence with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the soundON Festival of Modern Music in San Diego, the Cactus Pear Music Festival in San Antonio, and at the Turtle Bay Music School and Concerts on the Slope in New York.
Other works for winds include
• La Silla (2023)
• Quinceañera (2026)
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