MAKING A DIFFERENCE – CESAR MALDONADO

CESAR MALDONADO

“Me siento muy orgulloso de quien soy, orgullo de ser hijo de mexicanos”

César Maldonado

Cesar Maldonado is a successful investment banker.  Born and raised in Chicago and a proud product of the Chicago Public Schools, Cesar is the founder of the Mariachi Heritage Foundation (MHF) and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Founded in 2013, the Mariachi Heritage Foundation (MHF), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, exists to affirm, celebrate and preserve the rich cultural heritage of mariachi music and other Mexican heritage arts.  MHF seeks to create opportunities for individuals and communities to celebrate, share and sustain the vitality of Mexico’s performing arts traditions.  Our work promotes the importance of cultural heritage for strengthening ethnic identity and community.

MHF implements mariachi music education programs in Chicago Public schools with predominantly low-income Latino students. MHF partners with CPS schools to deliver a standards-based, sequential music program aligned to CPS Arts Education Plan goals, CPS Arts Scope & Sequence guidelines, and to new National Core Arts Standards. Additionally, the mariachi curriculum includes social and emotional learning outcomes and literacy standards to ensure a well-rounded arts education.

Through their program’s comprehensive and sequential study of mariachi music, students become creative thinkers and problem solvers. The MHF program leads to student empowerment, it gives students a voice, it helps develop discipline, teaches self-confidence, engages parents and the community, validates what students do in the “core” classroom and helps to celebrate and preserve culture and heritage.

The program also gives students an opportunity to perform and further build their musical abilities. Over 100 CPS students from across the district make up MHF’s audition-based mariachi music program called Mariachi Herencia de México. The ensemble has released three studio albums, each debuting at number one and number two on the iTunes Latin and Billboard Latin Albums charts, respectively. In 2017, the group scored a Latin GRAMMY® nomination in the “Best Ranchero/Mariachi Album” for their debut album titled “Nuestra Herencia (Our Heritage).” Additionally, Mariachi Herencia de México has toured throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico sharing the mariachi tradition with international audiences.

MHF supports students to get admitted into classical programs, and to thrive in those programs. Some of their students are now in Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras and Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative.

For more information on the foundation, go to:  https://www.mariachiheritagefoundation.org/

MAKING A DIFFERENCE – CESAR MALDONADO

“Me siento muy orgulloso de quien soy, orgullo de ser hijo de mexicanos”, César Maldonado,

Cesar Maldonado is a successful investment banker.  Born and raised in Chicago and a proud product of the Chicago Public Schools, Cesar is the founder of the Mariachi Heritage Foundation (MHF) and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Founded in 2013, the Mariachi Heritage Foundation (MHF), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, exists to affirm, celebrate and preserve the rich cultural heritage of mariachi music and other Mexican heritage arts.  MHF seeks to create opportunities for individuals and communities to celebrate, share and sustain the vitality of Mexico’s performing arts traditions.  Our work promotes the importance of cultural heritage for strengthening ethnic identity and community.

MHF implements mariachi music education programs in Chicago Public schools with predominantly low-income Latino students. MHF partners with CPS schools to deliver a standards-based, sequential music program aligned to CPS Arts Education Plan goals, CPS Arts Scope & Sequence guidelines, and to new National Core Arts Standards. Additionally, the mariachi curriculum includes social and emotional learning outcomes and literacy standards to ensure a well-rounded arts education.

Through their program’s comprehensive and sequential study of mariachi music, students become creative thinkers and problem solvers. The MHF program leads to student empowerment, it gives students a voice, it helps develop discipline, teaches self-confidence, engages parents and the community, validates what students do in the “core” classroom and helps to celebrate and preserve culture and heritage.

The program also gives students an opportunity to perform and further build their musical abilities. Over 100 CPS students from across the district make up MHF’s audition-based mariachi music program called Mariachi Herencia de México. The ensemble has released three studio albums, each debuting at number one and number two on the iTunes Latin and Billboard Latin Albums charts, respectively. In 2017, the group scored a Latin GRAMMY® nomination in the “Best Ranchero/Mariachi Album” for their debut album titled “Nuestra Herencia (Our Heritage).” Additionally, Mariachi Herencia de México has toured throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico sharing the mariachi tradition with international audiences.

MHF supports students to get admitted into classical programs, and to thrive in those programs. Some of their students are now in Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras and Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative.

For more information on the foundation, go to:  https://www.mariachiheritagefoundation.org/