Mariachi Musicians and Collective Grief during the COVID Pandemic in Southern California

Abstract

During winter 2020–2021, Los Angeles County suffered a brutal third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Latinxs, who account for 49 percent of the local population, were disproportionately devastated by high numbers of COVID-19-positive cases and alarming increases in mortality rates. Despite the popular perception that all musicians were silenced during the pandemic, I draw from my personal experience as a mariachi and those of my musical colleagues to document the impact of systemic marginalisation on the lives of mariachi musicians and how we responded to the pandemic by supporting each other and our community through performances.