Mariachi artists such as Pedro Fernández, Ana Gabriel, and American born mariachi singer Pepe Aguilar and more. The educational movement is controversial with some trained in the traditional manner, who are skeptical about these programs and their potential to change the tradition. The changes, especially standardization of publishing, are slowing impacting mariachi in Mexico. One difficulty of arranging mariachi pieces is that the son jaliscense is based on alternates between and time. Much of the published mariachi music is meant for people already familiar with the music to serve as guides, not to novices. On the other hand, many schools have
Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea a high-schooler, she was a victim of pranks and was told to give up trumpet because it was "too macho". In the early 1990s, Shea obtained a professional gig as trumpet player for an all-female mariachi band called Mariachi Las Alondras. When that band broke up in 1999, she formed another, calling the group Mariachi Divas. A big break for the new group came in September 2003, when they were discovered by Stan Freese, talent booking director for Disney Resorts, and became the official mariachi band of Disneyland Resort. They quickly became a fixture at Disney's California Adventure theme park