Luis Ranjel, music director for Mariachi Los Changuitos Feos, plays the vihuela as he practices with violin students, from left, Gabrielle Larrivas, Veronica Fern and Victoria Naifeh.

A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily STar

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Gabrielle Larrivas' MySpace page looks pretty standard when compared to those of other pop culture-driven kids her age.

Self-descriptors like "I hate drama" and "OMG I love, love, love the movie Dreamgirls" are scattered amid photos of Pharrell, Hilary Duff and the 16-year-old Tucson High Magnet School sophomore and her friends.

But dig a little deeper and you will find a side to Larrivas that is unique to the American Southwest and totally Tucson: pictures of her performing with Mariachi Los Changuitos Feos, her declaration of love for mariachi music and the canción "Cuando el Destino" playing quietly on the Web site's built-in jukebox.

Larrivas is one of thousands of Tucson teens over the years who have dedicated themselves to learning mariachi, a Mexican-born musical art form with more than 150 years of history behind it.

These are kids who are just as likely to have Lola Beltrán singing on their iPods as Kanye West or Christina Aguilera and who would rather hang out and jam after school with guitars, vihuelas and trumpets than check out the latest box office blockbuster or popular concert.

"There is just so much passion when it comes to mariachi music," said Larrivas, who started playing the violin four years ago. "There's so much history and culture involved. It is one of the most important things in my life right now."

The intense interest in the music is due in part to the 25 years of youth workshops that the Tucson International Mariachi Conference has held since its creation in the early '80s.

While ticket sales for the conference concerts have leveled off in recent years, the workshops never fail to sell out, according to Frank Valenzuela, conference board president.

More than 900 students are scheduled to attend this year.

"We don't promote our workshops as much as other parts of the conference because there is already such a huge demand," said Valenzuela. "Some of our instructors were once students here. They enroll when they are young and continue to play their whole lives."

One such student was John Contreras, who now serves as co-coordinator for the entire workshop program, as well as the director for the mariachi program at Pueblo Magnet High School.

Contreras, 35, was brought up by his father to play mariachi music and has been involved with the conference — first as a student, then a teacher and now a director — since its inception.

The educator has seen the youth interest in mariachi expand dramatically since he was a boy.

About 20 kids attended the very first beginners guitar workshop at the conference back in 1983 he said. Now an average class can reach 40-50.

Sessions run on four skill levels, from beginners to masters, with individual sections for nearly all of the instruments involved in mariachi. Workshops run the weekdays leading up to the Espectacular concert.

"We get people from everywhere for the workshops — California, New Mexico, Seattle." Contreras said. "It used to be just a local thing. Now it is everywhere. Younger people are just really into learning how to play, especially young people from Tucson."

Some of the kids who come through already deal with Contreras on a daily basis at Pueblo. Aside from directing the school's performance group, Mariachi Aztlan de Pueblo High School, Contreras teaches mariachi to about 130 students a day as part of the high school's regular curriculum.

"It must be some tie into the Hispanic culture," he said. "A lot of them come and say they are not really into the music, but they want to try it out because they know their nanas listen to it. They see what they can do. Some of them really get into it at that point."

Sunnyside High School student Alan Davila had no interest in playing mariachi music when his mom forced him to join a local youth group three years ago, but he said he immediately took to it.

The 16-year-old guitarist works on his music daily whether his high school group Mariachi Los Diablitos de Sunnyside is practicing or not. You can find him every now and then jamming with his buddies at local restaurants around town to earn a little extra spending money.

He has attended the Tucson conference workshops for the last two years.

"When I play this music, it makes me feel proud of where I have come from," Davila said. "I don't think I will become a professional player, but when I'm in college, this will help pay the bills."

Larrivas, on the other hand, is very interested in taking her mariachi studies to the next level when she finishes school. She hopes one day to form her own mariachi group, with which she can tour around the country.

"I practice a lot on my own," said Larrivas, who will be front-row center when next week's workshops roll around. "When there is a song I want to play or sing, I will pull the lyrics off the Internet so I can teach myself. But I still have a lot to learn."