The Marimba Band and Ballet Folklórico program at Ernest Righetti High School was founded in 1975 and has performed an annual concert ever since then.
The program began thanks to longtime Righetti teacher Ricardo Gabaldón, who wanted to educate students about Mexican and Latino culture and heritage. Gabaldón retired in 2014, and was succeeded by none other than his son, Ricardo Gabaldón, who has directed the ensembles each year since.
The junior Gabaldón, who spoke with the Sun regarding the program’s upcoming show, remembers attending the annual concerts since his childhood.
“They didn’t actually call it the ‘Big Show’ back then,” he said. “That’s when we put our heart and soul into putting on the best performance that we can.”
The Marimba Band and Ballet Folklórico performs several shows throughout the year, both on and off campus, but the Big Show features the fruits of the year’s labor, Gabaldón said.
The concert features the marimba band performing live music, the ballet folklórico dancing to recordings, and collaborations between both. The concert always features a wide variety of music.
“Every year we have a bit of a different lineup,” Gabaldón said. “Some years we have a flute player, sometimes we have a strong trumpet section, so we really choose the songs based on the talents of the group.”
The band plays several styles, from rancheras to contemporary Latin rock or pop.
The folklórico dancers do the same, Gabaldón said, and dance several regional dances from different states in Mexico.
“It gives our audience and our students a bigger picture of the variety of culture in Mexico,” he said. “There are different states with different kinds of music, different kinds of clothing, and the culture that each region has is unique.”
The marimba band also begins each Big Show with the same song, “Las Gaviotas.” That’s a nod to his father, Gabaldón explained, but also to every other marimba band at Righetti, because “Las Gaviotas” was the first song the first ensemble ever learned, and every group since.
“As we’re teaching the kids about tradition, that’s one of the ways we keep it going,” he said.
For some of his students, they are continuing a tradition their parents were a part of, too. The program is now 42 years old, so some of the students’ parents or at least older siblings were in marimba band or the ballet folklórico program when they were students at Righetti, Gabaldón said.
He also said that those parents and siblings take pride when a family member joins the group. Making it out to the Big Show is just one way those families show their support for the students, and the group as a whole, he said.
“I think that seeing our young adults up on stage with their eyes shining, in the spotlight, creating something together, that’s pretty spectacular, to see the end product of all the hours of rehearsal come to fruition” he said. “And the families are really into it, very proud, and enjoy coming back and reliving those moments.”
Managing Editor Joe Payne’s brother James played bass for the Righetti Marimba Band years ago as well. Contact Joe at [email protected].
