Laura Garciacano Sobrino was first
dubbed the "Mariachi Queen" in 1995 by the Los Angeles Times. In 1996, an NBC
national morning show featured a segment on her as a pioneer female mariachi and as a
positive role model for the new generation of mariachi musicians.
Mrs. Sobrino began playing the violin in
elementary school in her hometown of Watsonville, CA when she was
eight years old. She received music awards through-out her
public education. After graduating from Aptos High School in
1972, her career as a semi-professional mariachi began in 1975 while
studying for her B.A. in music at the University of California in
Santa Cruz. After finishing her studies, she moved to the Los Angeles
area to perform professionally, becoming the first woman to play in
some of the nation's most prestigious mariachi groups,
including the Mariachi Los Galleros de Pedro Rey and the Mariachi
Sol de México de José L. Hernández. Laura Sobrino is the former director and lead
violinist for the Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, and was originally responsible for
searching for the female talent in that mariachi. Mrs. Sobrino is
currently the musical director and violinist for the new all-female
mariachi show group, "Mariachi
Mujer 2000."
Throughout those years, she also taught mariachi
musicians, young and old, at local colleges and in her home. Laura has had many students
continue on to become professional mariachi performers and singers.
She was even the first teacher for
professional recording artists like Tatiana Bolaños (Sony
International), Nydia Rojas (Arista Records) and Friné Medrano. Ms. Sobrino has
also been one of the featured instructors for the workshops at many of the well-known
mariachi festivals nationwide. Currently, she is teaching mariachi classes
privately (youth groups and at Montclair High
School in Montclair, CA) and at East Los Angeles College (Music 134). Laura is also involved with mariachi performance through the
free-lance circuit in the Los Angeles area.
It was through these classes that she recognized the
need for transcribing mariachi music for the non-mariachi musician. She decided to begin
her own publication distribution in order to provide a more exemplary repertory from the
mariachi tradition. For this reason, Ms. Sobrino initiated her own publishing company, the
Mariachi Publishing Company.
Two of her transcriptions
were purchased by the Southern Music Company from Texas and have been selling world-wide.
A new music book was released in February 2002 with Mel Bay
Publications, "Mariachi Violin Transcriptions," written by
Laura Sobrino (click
here). She lives in Whittier, CA with her husband, Dan, and
two children, Nicté and Nazul.
