Music Instructor
Joseph Alcocer is a Texas-born violinist and string teacher based in Michigan. He enjoys a multifaceted career as the head orchestra director at Tappan Middle School in Ann Arbor, a studio teacher of violin and viola, a freelance violinist, and the music director/conductor of the Ypsilanti Youth Orchestra.
Joseph began attending Mariachi Workshops in his youth to gain a deeper connection to his Mexican-American heritage. His primary teachers were Joseph Santiago and Monica Trujillo (Mariachi Tenampa de Albuquerque) and members of Mariachi Tamazula (Austin, Texas.) He later honed his skills in Mariachi Gran Corazón (Midland, Texas) under the late Cassandra Trejo. He is pleased to have rediscovered his love for Mariachi music and has performed with the EBFE Mariachi as a violinist since 2022.
Joseph is pioneering the integration of Mariachi ensembles into Michigan’s music classrooms. The inception of Mariachi Los Troyanos at Tappan Middle School in 2021 led to the creation of the Michigan Youth Mariachi Festival – first held in May of 2023.
He holds degrees in Violin Performance from Huston-Tillotson University and Orchestral Conducting from the University of Texas–El Paso and training in the Suzuki Method. He is a 2023 recipient of the Diverse String Teacher Fellowship from the Bornoff Foundation for the Advancement of String Education. He serves the profession as a clinician for secondary orchestra programs, conductor and violin coach at Michigan ASTA String Camps, adjudicator for MSBOA Solo and Ensemble Festivals, has twice presented at the Michigan Music Conference, and is a member of the K-12 Committee for the American String Teacher’s Association.