MIDLAND, Texas — The University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB) is hosting their Día De Los Muertos Festival on Sunday, Nov. 3.
It will include food vendors, raffles and a community altar.
It will also have a closing show put together by UTPB music students.
Jean Gomez, UTPB's director of orchestras and mariachis, said he plans on blending together multiple genres and styles of music to give the crowd the best show possible.
“We are going to be showing a bunch of small pieces and songs that everyone knows. For example, Amor Eterna - which is a really famous song by Juan Gabriel - and the mariachi is going to be playing those," Gomez said. "We are going to have shows pieces that are going to be showcasing the different ensembles, which actually are hard pieces for each of them."
While some of the pieces might be on the more difficult side, it's nothing a little practice can't fix.
Gomez has been meeting with his orchestra and mariachi groups separately before bringing them together to rehearse the performance.
"This show actually starts months before we actually start," Gomez said. "At the beginning of August we are preparing all this music and today is actually our first time that we all get together.”
By combining all the elements of the different cultures, Gomez is hoping to provide a symphony of music that is worthy of the holiday they are celebrating.
“It's just really impressive just to see the emotion, the energy and the passion the students put putting this concert together, which actually celebrates the Mexican heritage," Gomez said. "It's just great to even see just people from here, from Odessa, putting together a big show."