Richard Carranza has been named he 2016 inductee into the Mariachi Hall of Fame of the Tucson International Mariachi Conference at this year’s Espectacular Concert.

Carranza is currently Superintendent of Schools for the San Francisco Unified School District. In 1992 he created Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School in Tucson, Arizona, and simultaneously created the first music curriculum-based program in the Tucson Unified School District.

Creating that highly-effective and musically superb ensemble, and experiencing the obstacles of institutional racism along the way, launched his career as an administrator, first as a principal at his alma mater – Pueblo High School, then as assistant superintendent of the Clark County/Las Vegas school district (where he again started mariachi programs) and finally as Superintendent of Schools in San Francisco.

A life-long Tucsonan, Carranza and his twin brother Reuben (President of Luxury Brand Partners, LLC) came to Davis Bilingual Elementary School speaking no English whatsoever. Under the tutelage of Alfredo Valenzuela, the boys early on became young mariachi musicians – something that gave them the life skills they have drawn upon to achieve their success.

After playing with Las Aguilitas de Davis Elementary, they joined Mariachi Los Changuitos Feos for a while before joining a youth mariachi created by their father called Mariachi Nuevo. The boys also played in Mariachi Azteca de Tucson with a number of musicians who would go on to become some of the top mariachi musicians and teachers in America.

In 2015, Carranza became part of a delegation of teachers from around the country that travelled to the White House to meet with President Obama to discuss education policy. Carranza’s job at that meeting was to advocate for English Language Learners and Arts Education.

In 2015 Carranza created the first mariachi program in San Francisco, Ca., and invited Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High to teach workshops and perform in a community concert of mariachi music both in 2015 and 2016.

Carranza is a highly-regarded administrator in the national education scene and was the keynote speaker at a White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics conference at Pixar Studios in Northern California in 2014.

At nearly every occasion, Carranza identifies himself as a mariachi first. His pride in that experience, which has brought him so much success in life, makes him an ideal new member of a hall of fame that includes Linda Ronstadt, Pepe Martinez, Mariachi Cobre, Nati Cano, Ruben Fuentes, Mariachi Vargas and so many more luminaries of the mariachi world.

Congratulations to Richard Carranza!