Dr. Salazar is an Assistant Professor of Musicology at Texas Tech University. She holds a BA from Carleton College (Magna Cum Laude) in Music, and her Master's and Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from UCLA.  Prior to teaching at TTU, she taught at UCLA, UC Santa Cruz and the California Institute of the Arts.

Through archival and field-based research, her work focuses on mariachi music in Mexico and the United States and its institutionalization vis-à-vis American academic programs at the primary, secondary, and collegiate levels. Utilizing the frameworks of postcolonial and practice theories, her research explores the ramifications of mariachi's formalization in terms of pedagogy, performance practice, and meaning.

Mexican Independence Day

Independence Day in Mexico is celebrated with huge street parties, parades, and everything from fireworks to rodeos to brass band and mariachi performances and traditional folk dancing in the streets (bailes folclóricos).

In the U.S. Cinco De Mayo is often confused with Mexican Independence Day. Cinco De Mayo commemorates Mexico's victory at the battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War in 1862. Not Mexican Independence Day which is September 16.