Mariachi Sirenas are changing the face of Chicago mariachi

Mariachi is a male-dominated tradition, but all over North America, groups such as Mariachi Sirenas have been changing the rules. This ten-piece ensemble, which bills itself as “Chicago’s first all-woman mariachi,” was founded in 2017 when singers and violinists Ibet Herrera and Eréndira Izguerra brought together a dozen musicians to preserve and celebrate the culture and legacy of mariachi music while empowering women. (By coincidence, their first rehearsal took place on International Women’s Day.) They’ve certainly accomplished those goals, which seem modest enough—but the ensemble’s mere existence has been met with occasional backlash and harassment. In a 2019 interview with the Tribune , Izguerra describes being berated and ridiculed during a Mariachi Sirenas concert by men who s