Mark Fogelquist received his BA and MA in Ethnomusicology from UCLA. His master’s thesis (1975) was the pioneering academic work on mariachi music. From 1973 to 1993, he directed Mariachi Uclatlán, one of the Los Angeles area’s leading professional mariachi ensembles. In 1993, Fogelquist moved to Wenatchee, Washington, where he organized the state’s first school mariachi program and mariachi conference, programs which are still alive 30 years later. For his work as an educator and contributor to culture in Washington he received the Governor’s Heritage Award as well as the Reconocimiento Ohtli, the highest award of the Mexican government for individuals contributing to the well being of Mexicans abroad. In 2001 Fogelquist returned to California to teach at Chula Vista High School and San Diego State University where his students won numerous awards and competitions and were honored by the New York Times, the Music Educators National Conference, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and the Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi in Guadalajara. Fogelquist has been a presenter, speaker, and instructor at mariachi conferences and festivals around the United States and Mexico. In July 2022, he was inducted into the Mariachi Hall of Fame, the only non-Mexican to receive this honor. He now lives in Ajijic where he is involved with the Escuela de Mariachi “Pedro Rey.