Scholarships
It began with a phone call a week after Elisa passed. Phyllis Franzoy, director of the Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference, asked Bobby and Terri if the conference could create an endowment in Elisa’s memory. The first scholarship was awarded that November. The foundation has since awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships.
Current programs
Individual College Scholarships
5 to 6 each year
Scholarships for students continuing on to universities, colleges, and trade schools. Recent recipients have come from Cholla, Pueblo, Sunnyside, Tucson, and San Miguel Catholic high schools in Tucson, and Rancho High School in Las Vegas.
The Tucson scholarships began at Cholla High School, Elisa’s alma mater, where she sang with Los Potrillos Mariachi. The Las Vegas scholarships began in 2008, after Elisa’s brother Xavier became a mariachi teacher in the Clark County School District.
TIMC Mariachi Group Scholarship
Tucson International Mariachi Conference
Elisa’s first mariachi conference was the TIMC in spring 2001. Each year, a $1,700 scholarship is awarded to a high school mariachi group or a youth community mariachi group. $500 goes to the director to use for the needs of the mariachi group. $1,200 helps cover the cost of the TIMC fees for the student workshops the following year.
TIMC Canta Scholarship
Tucson International Mariachi Conference
Awarded in honor of Elisa’s voice. The foundation awards the winners of the TIMC Canta competition. The open vocal competition winner receives $1,000, and the foundation has awarded it in 2023 and 2024:
- 2023, Open category winner
- Andrea Blumenkron2023, Elementary category winner
- Giselle Aubrey2023, High School category winner
- 2024, Open competition winner
- Ariela Barrios Quiroz2024, High School category winner
The winners of the 3rd–8th grade category and the high school category have their TIMC fees paid for the following year. The foundation has awarded the winners of these categories since 2019.
Earlier programs and awards
Since 2006, these programs have also supported students in New York and across the southwestern states.
Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference, 2006–2023
The foundation’s first scholarship, an endowment awarded each November to a vocalist in the conference’s student showcase.
Voice scholarships, 2006–2008
Private voice training with a University of Arizona School of Music professor, for mariachi students at the summer Viva Performing Arts Conference.
Merry-Achi Concert, 2015–2016
An award, matched by the CHISPA Foundation, to the first-place student group at the Merry-Achi Concert at the Fox Theatre in Tucson, for music curriculum and group needs.
New York City Mariachi Conference, 2012–2014
Elisa met Alvaro Paulino Jr. at the Las Cruces conference. When he founded New York’s first mariachi conference in 2012, he asked that Elisa’s foundation be part of it. The scholarship paid a year’s tuition at the New York City Mariachi Conservatory in Brooklyn.
Estrellitas del Mañana, 2011
A one-time youth vocal competition for elementary and middle school mariachi students, held at the historic El Casino Ballroom. Jose Ronstadt was master of ceremonies, and Nydia Rojas performed with Mariachi Sonido de México. Prize money went into college savings plans for the winners.
Faith scholarships, 2014 and 2017
Support for a student studying medicine abroad through the University of Arizona’s Global MedCats program, and for a seminarian at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon.