A professional mariachi music group is on its way to Austin this weekend.

Professional mariachi ensemble Mariachi Nuevo de Las Vegas will play with the Austin Symphony Orchestra in Austin at 2 p.m. Sunday in Austin High School’s Knowlton Auditorium. The band was brought in by I.J. Holton Intermediate School Band Director Tim Davis.

“I thought it would be a good promotional sort of thing to bring in a group from somewhere; we just didn’t know where to find them,” Davis said.

Davis has wanted to bring a group to Austin since last year, but due to timing and other complications, it didn’t work out. When he made a connection with the mariachi group at a workshop in June, he was excited when they agreed to come to Austin for a concert.

“This has been in the makings for a long time,” Davis said.

He received grants from the Austin Public Education Foundation and the symphony to bring the ensemble to Austin.

“This is just kind of a culmination of efforts to bring a group from … somewhere else in Austin to just expose folks to a different kind of music,” Davis said.

Davis wanted to bring the music to Austin to encourage more students to join music groups, which was his hope when he started the mariachi group for Austin students a few years ago. He started it as part of his master’s degree when he was at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. He wanted to get more students of color involved in the music program because he saw an entire population of students who weren’t involved.

“I thought this might be a way to encourage that,” Davis said. “There was interest in doing it and it was a good way to bring cultures together.”

Since he started the group, there have been more students of color in the music program. He said the mariachi group didn’t have those results on its own, but that along with a few other things they’ve implemented have helped. The mariachi program has about eight students.

The student ensemble will also perform during the concert Sunday.

Mariachi music usually consists of a few main instruments, including trumpets, violins, guitar, vihuela and guitarron.

Davis is excited for the group to come Sunday.

“Maybe this would encourage or spark some adults that want to put something together and make a group or something,” he said. “We’ll see what comes of it, I guess.”

Tickets cost $12 in advance $15 at the door for adults, $10 in advance $12 at the door for college students, and students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade there is no charge, but students grades kindergarten through fifth grade must be accompanied by an adult.