LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A Las Vegas mariachi musician is chasing his dream with help from a scholarship named for a singer he never met. Ervin Garcia received a scholarship from the Elisa Gastellum Memorial Foundation, created in memory of a mariachi singer who died before she could move to Las Vegas.
“My dream is to keep the mariachi music alive,” Garcia said.
A dream cut short
Elisa Gastellum was a mariachi singer from Arizona. Her mother, Terri Gastellum, said Elisa loved performing.
“Oh, she was passionate about it. She loved it. Once she got comfortable, you know, with being on stage, and she had great showmanship, she really drew the audience in,” Terri Gastellum said.
Her father, Bob Gastellum, said she came alive on stage.
“Well, she would really shine. That was her home on the stage,” Bob Gastellum said.
Elisa’s older brother, Javier Gastellum, cheered her on from the sidelines. The two planned to move from Arizona to Las Vegas together to build mariachi music careers.
“She was like, oh, that’s great. You’re going to go to Vegas and you can teach. And then she said, well, maybe I can go up there and I can start singing and I can go to school up there,” Javier Gastellum said.
Elisa never made it to Las Vegas. Terri Gastellum said Elisa was in a car crash.
“She didn’t see an oncoming car. So the person driving that car hit her. So she was T-boned. And she died instantly,” Terri Gastellum said.
Elisa was 18 years old.
“It was just, it was devastating. It really, really was,” Bob Gastellum said.
Brother carries on her legacy
Javier Gastellum moved to Las Vegas and became a mariachi teacher at Gibson Middle School. He has taught there for 20 years.
“When I come in here every day, it’s not just a job for me. It really isn’t. It’s really just trying to continue the legacy that, of my sister, and to try to help as many of these kids realize their full potential,” Javier Gastellum said.
Elisa’s parents, Bob and Terri Gastellum, wanted to do more to honor her.
“I, I knew that something good was going to come out of this, eventually,” Bob Gastellum said.
They created the Elisa Gastellum Memorial Foundation, which awards scholarships to young mariachi musicians.
Scholarship helps students continue music education
Garcia received one of those scholarships.
“The times that we’re living in, my parents would not be able to afford my college tuition. And for me, being able to have this scholarship, it really helped me out,” Garcia said.
Elisa Gastellum never knew Garcia’s name. Nearly 20 years later, he knows hers.
“If Elisa was here today, I would tell her, thank you for doing what you do, and inspiring the future generations of mariachi music,” Garcia said.
The foundation has awarded 27 scholarships in Elisa Gastellum’s name in Las Vegas. Ten of those recipients have become Las Vegas mariachi teachers themselves, following in Javier Gastellum’s footsteps.
The Elisa Gastellum Foundation also helps young mariachi students with instruments, lessons and opportunities to attend mariachi conferences.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
