Carlos Gutierrez

Carlos Gutierrez is a mariachi musician with over 30 years of performance experience. Born and raised in San Antonio’s West Side to Mexican immigrant parents, it was at Irving Middle School and Fox Tech High School where he would cultivate his passion for mariachi music, a passion that would eventually earn him a scholarship to attend the University of Texas – Pan American where he would perform with Mariachi Aztlán, widely recognized as the best university-based mariachi ensemble in the United States. Carlos would eventually graduate from the University of Texas at San Antonio where, thanks to his love of reading, he would earn a degree in English Literature; becoming the first person in his family to graduate from college. A master at the quintessential mariachi instrument, the guitarrón, Carlos’s performance style comes in direct lineage from Jose Natividad de Santiago (1941-1992), recognized by mariachi musicians as the greatest guitarrón player that ever lived. Carlos has been a private student of Marco de Santiago, Bernardino de Santiago, and Enrique de Santiago (respectively the son, brother, and nephew of Jose N. de Santiago). Carlos’ continued passion for performance and education has allowed him to become a frequent clinician at a variety of mariachi music workshops, most recently for the Tucson Independent School District, Lubbock Independent School District, and Texas Tech University. In 2018 he, along with other like-minded musicians, established Mariachi San Antonio, a professional mariachi ensemble that is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of mariachi music, its traditions, history, and culture.  He continues to manage and performs weekly with the group sharing their love of mariachi music with families, businesses, and organizations. Carlos works as a middle school special education reading teacher at the Southwest Independent School District.