Mexican Heritage Corporation Program Management

Marcela Davison Avilés – Executive Producer

A first generation Mexican-American, Marcela is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School. She has served as counsel in the areas of banking, motion pictures, television and stage production, with specific experience in the areas of corporate, copyrights, contracts, and bank regulatory law. Prior to her position with the Mexican Heritage Plaza, she served as Executive Director of the Latino Community Foundation in San Francisco. Formerly, she served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Blackboard Entertainment. Her background also includes consulting and corporate legal experience in the bank regulatory area with both Federal and state agencies, law firm practice, non-profit Board membership in arts and education and extensive press and public speaking experience.

Dr. Susan Cashion – Co-Artistic Director of Grupo Folklórico, Los Lupeños de San José.

Dr. Susan Cashion is an emerita of the dance division of Stanford Univercity, where she taught Mexican, Latin-American and Modern dance for thirty-five years. In 1969 she co-founded Los Lupeños de San José with Ramon Morones. She is also the founder of the Cashion Cultural Legacy, a non-profit organization which seeks to research, preserve and create materials related to Mexican dance.

Marco Chavez – Co-Artistic Director of Grupo Folklórico, Los Lupeños de San José.

Marco was born in Michoacán, Mexico and one of his passions is Mexican dance and culture. He has danced with Los Lupeños de San Jose since 1999, appearing in important venues such as the San Francisco Ethic Dance Festival on multiple occasions, the San Jose Mariachi Festival’s gala concerts, and in the Linda Ronstadt’s Canciones de mi Padre tour.  Currently he shares artistic directorship duties for Los Lupeños. Marco Chavez is a Coordinator Networks for Success, San Mateo County Office of Education. He has served as both classroom teacher and principal in the Ravenswood City School District families since 1993.  Another passion of his is offering the best resources to children and families in disadvantaged communities. In this capacity Marco has implemented community programs to help students succeed in school, has organized health workshops for parents, and has collaborated in developing programs to bring supplies and services to campesinos.

Jill Arnone – Communications Director

Jill, (she’s the gal on the left) has been a senior press relations and communications executive in the Silicon Valley and nationally for over twenty years, representing clients in the arts, non-profit, technology, media and retail sectors. Blending a high-touch style with high-tech impact, Jill is known throughout the Bay Area for her grace, wit and egg plant parmesian.

Monica Ramos – Program Coordinator, Mariachi and Folklorico Festival

Monica Ramos has been associated with the Mexican Heritage Corporation and the San Jose Mariachi Festival since the festival’s inception. She presently coordinates the Pee Wee mariachi program and the festival workshops and volunteer corp. Her years of experience and dedication to mariachi music and education have established her as a leader in the San Francisco Bay Area mariachi community

Mario Lleverino – Chief Financial Officer

Rene Forunda – Production Accountant

22nd Annual Mariachi Festival Staff

Dan Guerrero – Festival Creative Director

Mr. Guerrero, based in Los Angeles, is a highly acclaimed independent director and producer of diverse programming for network and cable television and of non-broadcast international arts and culture events at such prestigious venues as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque and the Cité de la Musique in Paris, France.
Guerrero’s many live productions include the world premiere of Concierto para Mendez for the Los Angeles Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion; Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World at the Kennedy Center; and the opening ceremonies for the city-wide Los Angeles’ Artes de Mexico Festival with more than 300 musical performers and costumed participants on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall. His many television credits include producing for NBC, HBO, Fox and PBS where he co-produced The Kennedy Center Concert of the Americas with Quincy Jones. Mr. Guerrero recently co-produced and co-wrote Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano, an award-winning documentary on his late father, Chicano music icon Lalo Guerrero. The film aired nationally on PBS stations in the Voces series hosted by Edward James Olmos and included a DVD/CD release. It has also screened at national and international Film Festivals including the Turks & Caicos International Film Festival where the film garnered awards for Best Documentary, Best Director and Best Song.

Jose Hernandez – Music Director, Mariachi Programs

Jose Hernandez is an internationally reknowned musician, music educator and music director. Founder of Mariachi Sol de Mexico in 1981, Jose has performed with some of the most respected and beloved artists in the music industry. He is also an innovator in music education, and established the Mariachi Heritage Society in 1991 to provide standards-based mariachi music instruction in the Los Angeles area and nationwide.

Jose Ronstadt – Master of Ceremonies

Described as “a man who uses wit, enthusiasm and knowledge to make things happen,” José A. Ronstadt is well known in the Latino community not only for his television background, but also for his long activism on behalf of Hispanic causes. His extensive career in international, national and local television has provided him with experience both as a top-level executive, public speaker and as a television personality. Most recently he was inducted into the International Mariachi Hall of Fame. Mr. Ronstadt currently serves as news anchor for “Conteo Informativo” and “Noticias 22″ on KWHY-TV 22/ NBC/Telemundo, Monday thru Friday at 7p.m. and 10 p.m. There he was recently awarded three Golden Mikes for “Best Hard News Reporting – Chavez Ravine,” “Best Light News Reporting – The Million Dollar Theatre” and “Best Live Reporting – The Chalino Sanchez Riots.” Mr. Ronstadt has also acted as host and producer of a number of television shows and network specials, among them: “Hola America,” (Univision) a live international show which combined fun and games with the most serious content, reflecting Mr. Ronstadt’s personality, “Voces Del Pueblo” (Univision) which united for the first time the communities of San Antonio, Texas, New York, Miami, Florida and Los Angeles, California in a national town hall dedicated to the most critical Hispanic issues.

Mr. Ronstadt served as Host and Executive producer of Telemundo KVEA-TV, Channel 52′s morning news and entertainment program titled “Hola Los Angeles.” This program covered a variety of topics ranging from the latest news and Latino issues to sports, entertainment and much more. Mr. Ronstadt also served as the senior anchor of KVEA-TV, Channel 52′s newscast “Noticiero Telemundo 52.” There Mr. Ronstadt was awarded the Golden Mike for “Best Half Hour Newscast in California” and the Golden Mike for “Best Commentary” in Television in California.

Mr. Ronstadt also served as host and MC for a number of events, including The Tucson International Mariachi Conference, Las Cruces Mariachi Festival, The Mexican Heritage Plaza Annual Mariachi Festival, National Council of La Raza Annual Banquet, The San Antonio Mexican-American Physicians’ Annual fund raiser, Xicanindio’s Celebrity Fund-raising Dinner, Hispanic Charity Ball, Madres De El Este de Los Angeles Santa Isabel Annual Scholarship Banquet, New Horizons Annual Fundraising Gala and Valentine’s Annual Auction and Chicanos Por La Causa Annual Fund-raising Banquet. Arizona State University announced in 2006 the naming of the José Ronstadt Outstanding Undergraduate and Graduate Student Awards for his contributions to academics and Latinos at the university.

Jose Delgado – Festival Production Consultant

Jose has over thirty-eight years experience in theater and artist management as a General Manager, Tour Manager, Administrator, Producer and Business Manager while working for KROST/CHAPIN MANAGEMENT, PETER ASHER MANAGEMENT, THE LOS ANGELES THEATER CENTER, EL TEATRO CAMPESINO and ROBINWOOD ENTERPRISES.

He tour managed eight national tours for Linda Ronstadt including the theatrical production of Canciones de Mi Padre, Cry like a Rainstorm Howl like the Wind featuring Aaron Neville, and Mas Canciones. He also tour managed her national tour with the Pittsburg Symphony as well as Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris’ Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions tour. As a manager of recording artists, he has worked with Krost/Chapin Management and Peter Asher Management. He was the Administrator for the Los Angeles Theatre Center’s Latino Theatre Lab. As a company member of El Teatro Campesino he served in various capacities including Administrative Director, Producer and Tour Manager. He managed the company on three national and two European tours. Currently, he is the owner of PLEIADES MANAGEMENT, manages Mariachi Sol de Mexico and Mariachi Reina de Los Angeles, and author Ruben Martinez. Some of his other clients have included playwright Oliver Mayer, the ensemble known as the Taco Shop Poets, and the Spanish language band Maria Fatal. Mr. Delgado was also the Chair of Cornerstone Theater Companies’ board of directors.