Fredd Sánchez

Fredd Sanchez is a Mariachi teacher of  15 years and founder of Mariachi Continental de De San Diego, born in Mexicali, Baja California Mexico on May 6th 1982. Through Mariachi Continental de San Diego which was founded in the year 2000, and his decade and a half of teaching, he has championed mariachi education and its pedagogical formalization at the national level. Fredd helped co-write the curriculum for the CTE mariachi credential in the state of California and its alignment with the CSU system to ensure that students can use the mariachi courses to help fulfill their graduation requirements.  

He has studied under Dr. Jeff Nevin as part of Mariachi Garibaldi, Guadalupe Gonzalez  and countless other musical eminences in the mariachi world as well as provided professional developments to help non-mariachi teachers understand the stylistic nuances and regional differences of the mariachi sub-styles.  Fredd has had the honor of teaching at the Tucson International Mariachi Conference and judging multiple mariachi competitions. He holds a BA in Liberal Studies and is currently working on developing bilingual music theory videos with a focus on mariachi instruction as well as developing a comprehensive method book for the Vihuela, Guitar and Guitarron and making music literacy more accessible to all music students.

Rolando Arellano

Rolando Arellano was born on March 15, 2004, in San Diego, California. At an early age, he had an interest in music.  At the age of 10, he got his first hands-on experience learning to play the euphonium at a before-school program. Always fascinated by the guitar, he began to learn the instrument in middle school and later joined the school’s mariachi ensemble. In high school, he started to study the other instruments of the armonía section. During this period, he was able to attend master classes by the likes of Rigoberto Alfaro, Rafael Palomar, Enrique de Santiago, Adolfo Estrada,  Guadalupe Gonzalez and many others. In September of 2019, Rolando officially joined Mariachi Continental De San Diego where he sings and plays guitar for the group.

Alejandro Tapia

Alejandro Tapia is a Classical Guitarist with 10 years of experience. Alex Tapia was born in El Centro, CA and was raised in Tijuana, Mexico. At age of 15, he moved to San Diego to study high school. He began his music studies at Southwestern College where he studied classical guitar under Dr. Jorge Pastrana. He was a member of the Ensamble Lirico Juvenil de Jose Medina in Tijuana, Mexico in which he studied voice and participated in the Opera en la Calle Festival in Tijuana, Opera en la Playa in Rosarito. Later transferred to San Diego State University to complete his studies in Music Education and continue his study of classical guitar under Robert Wetzell. He studied Mariachi under the direction of Mark Fogelquist at San Diego State University. During his studies, Alex Tapia became a member of the group Jarabe Mexicano in 2015 as percussionist and second guitarist. In his time with Jarabe Mexicano, he toured to Colorado, Arizona, Salt Lake City, New York, Seattle, and Mexico. In 2016 Jarabe Mexicano was hired by the American Consulate in Tijuana to represent the United States in a Trinational Music Festival based in La Paz, Baja California. Alex Tapia gained experience in outreach programs during his time with Jarabe Mexicano, and recorded one EP album where he is featured as classical guitar. His last tour with Jarabe Mexicano was in 2017. He has studied voice with Tenor Marco Labastida from 2017 to present. He became a member of Mariachi Continental de San Diego in 2019. Alex Tapia obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from San Diego State University. He has taught Classical Guitar at high school and middle school level; Mariachi, and Choir at the middle school level for 6 years. Currently, Alex Tapia is working on a Master's degree in Education. 

Jacqueline Sierra

Jacqueline Sierra was born in Torrance, CA and has been performing music for the last 18 years. At the age of 13, she joined the middle school mariachi ensemble program under the direction of Keith Ballard in San Diego, CA. Since then her passion for mariachi music has only grown. She continued with the program in high school under the direction of Guadalupe Gonzalez then at Southwestern College under the direction of Jeff Nevin and at San Diego State University under the direction of Mark Fogelquist. Jackie has performed alongside the San Diego Symphony with Mariachi Champana at multiple concerts and has backed up famous musicians such as Aida Cuevas, Lupillo Rivera, Rafael Negrete (son of Jorge Negrete), and even Spanish rock group, Mana. In addition to accompanying these various artists and their independent styles, she has also performed classical music as well as in the well-known musical, Godspell. Jackie has recorded several albums with Mariachi Garibaldi of Southwestern College. Furthermore, she has had the opportunity to participate in the Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi y la Charrería en Guadalajara, Jalisco, an international mariachi festival that has participants from around the world and is only accessible through invitation. 

She also traveled to other places like Brazil, China, and India to participate in world music festivals where she shares the love for her culture and mariachi music. Since then Jacqueline Sierra has received her Bachelor’s in English from San Diego State University and is a Preschool Teacher with the San Diego Unified School District and aims to pursue her Master’s of Education in the near future. However, she still indulges in her passion for music and performs mariachi music any chance she gets.

Saul Gonzalez

Saul Gonzalez is a music teacher and director of groups ranging from Classical, Symphonic Band, and Big Band Jazz. He is also a professional Trumpet and French horn player. He was born on August 9 of 1991, in Tijuana B.C., Mexico. Under the direction of recognized directors of music such as Zigmant Kanstul, Deborah Nevin-Armstrong, Dr. Jeff Nevin, and Dr. Jorge Pastrana, to name a few, he has accumulated knowledge and skills from many different styles of music and teaching methods for mentioned styles. 

Saul started his educational career as a student at San Diego State University for Physics with a specialization in Astrophysics and Quantum Mechanics, then moving on to Music Education at Southwestern College. With over a decade of playing experience, he has performed with many different groups and renowned musicians such as the Canadian Brass, Julian Bliss, and the San Diego Symphony. Saul has played mariachi music since 2018 where he joined Mariachi Continental de San Diego, and Mariachi Garibaldi shortly after where he has had the opportunity to play for various artists and travel the world to represent his mexican culture, and share its music with  the world.

Anthony Mendoza

Isaac Padilla

Marco Navarrete

Samantha Montufar