The sounds of accordions, bajo sextos and quintos, brass instruments and crooning vocals carry to even the farthest reaches of the parking lot at Jacob Brown Auditorium on the Texas Southmost College campus in Brownsville.
At 10 a.m. on Saturday, local high school, middle school and elementary students are clustered together in the courtyard and inner rehearsal spaces, talking and playing through their set as the minutes tick down to noon and the start of the 6th Annual Texas Best Conjunto showdown.
Since 2016 the free event has given a venue for local school Conjunto groups to show their skills. La Cultura Vive en Brownsville, a 501-C3 non-profit organization since 2017 and event organizer, sees the event as a way to keep youth engaged in their education through music.
In the showdown, 15 Conjunto groups representing 10 Rio Grande Valley schools competed in Beginner, Junior Varsity and Varsity categories to see who would take home the awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
Junior Varsity and Varsity are limited to high school Conjunto groups, while the beginner group is a mixture of contestants from elementary to high school.
Each group in each category performs three songs of their choice, with performances not to exceed 12 minutes, with the first song using only the bajo sexto and accordion.
After the instrumental, contestants need to perform the remaining two songs with all their instruments and vocals without duplicating styles.
The varsity groups have the added pressure of a second round, performing three songs of their choice. In this category, judges also graded each performer on their performance for individual awards in each instrument.
During performances, the showdown encourages the audience to get loud when they hear a song they like, and when toe-tapping isn’t enough to show their appreciation, some audience members take to the floor to dance.
Even the seated audience members join in on the fun, singing along with their favorites as they use their phones to record the performance.
On stage, Conjunto La Leyenda, from Porter Early College High School in Brownsville, launches into an adaptation of “Baila Esta Cumbia” by Selena to cheers and yells before they can get past the first few notes of the iconic favorite.
Formed in 2019, the group practices as part of an after-school program through Texas Southmost College’s Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers and funded by the U.S. Department of Education, a grant program to provide after-school enrichment opportunities for students.
“We started with a cowbell,” their director, chemistry teacher Orlando Moreno, laughs.
The program provided funding for more instruments to add to that cowbell, and Moreno recruited students in his classes to join the group. This is Conjunto La Leyenda’s first year competing.
Miha Garcia, 16, a sophomore at Porter, plays bass and sings in the group. Garcia, who only just learned the bass this year, is confident in the hard work the group has put in to pay off.
“I feel excited, but also a little bit nervous, but we have prepared to accomplish something,” she said.
In a practice room Marin Hinojosa, 18, a senior at La Joya Palmview High School and Conjunto veteran in Conjunto La Tradición, is excited to soak up the atmosphere of performing at the showdown with his classmates. “What I love about it is conversing with everybody and seeing people have fun—smiling and having the time of their lives. Playing my music and looking at the people is what makes me happy,” he said.
Inside the auditorium, Committee-Chair, Carlo Hernandez, is in the center of the chaos, acting as an invisible conductor for the event, putting out any small fires as each Conjunto group goes on.
For Hernandez, the event serves a larger purpose in addition to showcasing and recognizing talent, but as a way to keep them on the right educational path with music as the reward. The contest has strict requirements for participants with this mission in mind.
Each performer needs good grades; excellent attendance and disciplinary records; and the approval of their principal before they can set foot on stage.
Hernandez likens it to the ‘No Pass, No Play’ policy used in University Interscholastic League (UIL) contests.
While Conjunto is not a UIL contest category yet, Hernandez and his organization want to make sure that when that day arrives— the students are ready.
Conjunto becoming a UIL contest category would help keep what Hernandez feels is a disappearing genre going with a new generation by making it part of the curriculum for more schools.
“If more schools adopt this genre, then we will know, for sure, our culture can stay alive a bit longer,” Hernandez said.
After a long day of performances showcasing the talent and dedication of the Rio Grande Valley’s Conjunto students, La Cultura Vive en Brownsville announced the results that evening and distributed their awards.
>> Elementary & Middle School Beginner Level:
1st Place — Los Fresnos Elementary Conjunto from Los Fresnos CISD;
2nd Place — Conjunto Cavs from Mission ISD.
>> High School Beginner Level:
1st Place — La Leyenda from Porter Early College High School through TSC 21st Century;
2nd Place — Los Fresnos United Conjunto from Los Fresnos CISD;
3rd Place — Palmview Conjunto from La Joya ISD.
>> High school JV Level:
1st Place — Conjunto Salvaje from Weslaco ISD;
2nd Place — Conjunto Belleza Norteña from Edinburg CISD;
3rd Place — Los Fresnos JV Conjunto from Los Fresnos CISD.
>> High school Varsity Level:
1st Place — Conjunto Halcón from Los Fresnos CISD;
2nd Place — La Tradición from La Joya ISD;
3rd Place — from Conjunto Diamantes from La Joya ISD.
>> Varsity Individual Performance by Instrument:
Accordion — Marin Hinojosa of Conjunto La Tradición from La Joya ISD;
Vocalist — Manuel Tovar of Conjunto Halcón from Los Fresnos CISD;
Quinto Sexto — Ricardo Espinosa of Conjunto Halcón from Los Fresnos CISD;
Base — Iliana Aguilar of Conjunto Halcón from Los Fresnos CISD;
Drums — Silas Zepeda of Conjunto La Tradición from La Joya ISD.
