From the Rio Grande Valley to Los Angeles, a Los Fresnos native is now playing in one of the world's most renowned mariachi groups.

Her story is one of dedication and determination.

"It changed my life forever. Here I am a few years later and I'm doing what I love," Yamila De La Rosa said. "For me, I love mariachi, but I just love trumpet in general."

De La Rosa graduated from Los Fresnos High School in 2018 and then went on to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley before transferring to Texas A&M-Kingsville . 

During her college years, she was a part of several mariachi groups. De La Rosa graduated in 2025 with her degree in trumpet performance.

"You graduate, you get your bachelors, you're like, 'What's my next move?' I was thinking, 'Do I go get my masters or what do I do?'" De La Rosa said.

But her next move was already in the making.

At a young age, De La Rosa watched the award-winning Mariachi Sol De Mexico perform in Brownsville and stayed in touch with the owner for years.

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"We would always keep in touch and finally, he just said, 'hey, I'm in town, are you still interested in being in this group? And I was like yes!" De La Rosa said.

She was given the challenge of memorizing some music and audition.

"I remember being so nervous, this is going to determine what I do next and this was March of 2025 and we go in and we play and he's like, 'When can you move?' And I'm like what," De La Rosa said.

By August of 2025, she packed her bags and joined an all-female group under the same owner of Mariachi Sol De Mexico.

"Since then, I have been in Reyna's for eight months now. I had my first show in September and since then, we've gotten nominated for a Grammy, so we got to go to the Latin Grammys in November. We just recently got inducted into the California Hall of Fame and Coachella," De La Rosa said.

De La Rosa even took the stage at Coachella alongside Karol G. 

"All I can say for starters, Karol G is amazing to work with. One of the sweetest human beings on the planet," De La Rosa said. "It wasn't until I was backstage that everything hit me."

Coming from a small town, like Los Fresnos, to playing at one of the biggest stages in the world, she says the journey means everything.

"I carry all the hard work of my parents. I carry all of the 956 with me, because Los Fresnos was such a good time for me, all the teachers, the educators, I made it here because of all the support," De La Rosa said.

As she lives out her dreams, she hopes others will do the same.

"The moment you want to do something, you have to achieve it. And it's tough, there's going to be times when no one believes in you, but as long as you believe in yourself, you can make it anywhere you want in this world," De La Rosa said.

Yamila De La Rosa is made in the 956.