Founded and directed by trumpet player Cindy Shea in 1999, the all-female Mariachi Divas are making big waves on the national music scene. The group is currently nominated for an American Grammy award for Best Regional Mexican Album with their latest CD, Canciones De Amor. Mariachi Divas are a unique, multi-cultural ensemble imbued with the true flavor of Los Angeles and have been represented by women of Mexican, Cuban, Samoan, Argentinian, Columbian, Panamanian, Puerto Rican, Swiss, Japanese, Honduran, Peruvian, Tongan and Anglo descent. Cindy Shea states, "Music is a way of uniting our cultural backgrounds."
Mariachi Divas have appeared at Southern California venues such as Arrowhead Pond, Universal Amphitheater, Staples Center, the Greek Theatre, the Santa Barbara Bowl, the House of Blues, the LA Forum for the 2005 Premio La Gente live TV awards show and the Shrine Auditorium for the 2006 Alma Awards. They have also accompanied Grammy- winning artists such as Joan Sebastian, Jenny Rivera, Marco Antonio Solis, Pablo Montero, Graciela Beltran and Paulina Rubio. The Divas have performed dozens of shows with the world-renowned Mariachi Vargas.
Each January since 2001, the Divas have showcased their innovative sounds at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention in Anaheim, California. They have performed at the Tucson International Mariachi Concert, the Las Cruces Mariachi Conference and the Fresno Radio Bilingue Mariachi Show. Mariachi Divas were featured as one of the main televised acts, in front of over 500,000 people on the streets of downtown Los Angeles, at the largest Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the world: the 14th and 15th Annual Fiesta Broadway in 2003 and 2004. They have appeared at both the Los Angeles and Orange County Fairs numerous times, as well as other state and county fairs across the country. The Divas have not only traveled throughout the USA for performances in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming but also performed in Tampico, Mexico in 2004. Mariachi Divas have appeared several times at the John Anson Ford Theatre in Los Angeles, promoting and producing their own shows there.
The Divas had the honor of performing at the inaugurations of Los Angeles mayor, Antonio R. Villaraigosa and California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Since then, the Divas have performed for several prestigious city and state events, including a February 2008 performance in Sacramento for a luncheon with Governor Schwarzenegger and the President of Mexico. Also in February 2008, the Divas were invited by Senator Hillary Clinton to her Los Angeles presidential campaign rally, where they performed live on C-SPAN. In November 2008, the Divas performed for the President of South Korea. One of the group's most memorable experiences was the honor of surprising international music star, Luis Miguel with the traditional Mexican birthday song, “Las Mañanitas” on his birthday in 2007.
Mariachi Divas have made numerous television appearances on shows such as Despierta America, Cristina, Control, Vista LA, Primer Impacto, Escandalo, LATV's Adelante Hispanos, Sabado Gigante, Off the Roof, De Todo Un Poco, BBQ with Bobby Flay, Primera Edicion, Atrevete, Futbol Mania, 12 Corazones and Bienvenido a Casa. The Divas appear in the mariachi documentary, Viva El Mariachi and have taken roles as actors in two independent films, Dead Man's Shoe and also, La Dentista, in which music from their CD was used in the movie's soundtrack. In 2008, Mariachi Divas were featured performers in an art film with Lila Downs, called Ren, directed by world-renowned artist, Matthew Barney. The Divas rendition of the Ricky Martin hit, “La Bomba” was used in a film released in 2008 called, Julia. Mariachi Divas also have two of their Christmas songs featured on Hallmark Cards with Music- "Mi Burrito Sabanero" and "Año Viejo".
The Divas are proud to announce the national distribution of all four of their CDs through Shea Records and East Side Records. Their latest, Canciones de Amor, released in June 2008, was recently nominated for an American Grammy award. They are now working on their next CD, scheduled for release in 2009, 10th Anniversario, celebrating a decade as Mariachi Divas.
Since September 2003, as the official mariachis of Disney in Anaheim, the Divas continue to perform every week for audiences of all ages, while strolling throughout the streets of Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.
Mariachi Divas' musicians are currently endorsed by LP Percussion, Zeta Music, IntellitouchTuners, Soundback Acoustic Monitors, CodaBow International, Marcinkiewicz, Bella Strings and LPD Music.
Never stepping too far from what brought them together, the sound of mariachi rings though every song that is played, no matter what style of music they choose to perform.
