Personal Awards
Two-Time Grammy Award Recognition
Cultural Contributions
Film & National Cultural Consulting
About
Dr. Lauryn Salazar is an Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Mariachi Programs at Tarleton State University. Through archival and field-based research, her work focuses on mariachi music in Mexico and the United States and its institutionalization vis-à-vis American academic programs at the primary, secondary, and collegiate levels. Utilizing the frameworks of postcolonial and practice theories, her research explores the ramifications of mariachi’s formalization in terms of pedagogy
Dr. Lauryn Salazar is an Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Mariachi Programs at Tarleton State University. Through archival and field-based research, her work focuses on mariachi music in Mexico and the United States and its institutionalization vis-à-vis American academic programs at the primary, secondary, and collegiate levels. Utilizing the frameworks of postcolonial and practice theories, her research explores the ramifications of mariachi’s formalization in terms of pedagogy, performance practice, and meaning.
She is a practicing mariachi musician performing on the mariachi harp and is a member of the all-female, two-time Grammy award-winning Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea. Dr. Salazar has served as a cultural advisor on the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning Disney Pixar film “Coco” (2017). She also served as the mariachi consultant for the United States Postal Service Mariachi Forever Stamp series (2022). As a member of the Texas Music Adjudicators Association (TMAA), she has served as a judge for the University Interscholastic League (UIL) mariachi competition since its inception. Additionally, she has served as an evaluator for the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) mariachi programs. She holds a BA from Carleton College (Magna Cum Laude) in Music, and her MA and PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Prior to teaching at Tarleton State University, she taught at Texas Tech University, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz), and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).
Professional Performance
Mariachi Harpist
Member of Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea
Two-Time Grammy-Award Winning All-Female Mariachi
Featured Performances
Mariachi Spectacular – Albuquerque Mariachi Festival – July 16, 2016 “Jose Alfredo”
Mariachi Spectacular – Albuquerque Mariachi Festival – July 16, 2016 “Estos Celos”
National Anthem – Mexico vs. Croatia – Los Angeles Coliseum – May 27, 2017
Professional Performance
As a performer of the Mexican harp, she has played with ensembles in both Mexico and the United States. And as a specialist in traditional Mexican musics in Mexico and the American Southwest, she has studied the arpa jalisciense (mariachi harp), and violin (mariachi style), as well as several other regional Mexican instruments. Piano (thirty years) and voice (twenty years) comprise the focus of her Western classical performance training, with additional study in organ, harpsichord, and harp at the college level. While a graduate student at UCLA she also participated in various ensembles including the musics of Mexico (mariachi and son jarocho), Indonesia (Balinese gamelan), the Arab world (violin playing in the Near East Ensemble).