Wandering from town to town toting a guitar case and opening it up to strum his classical guitar, Antonio Banderas captured audiences with his infamous character in “Desperado.”

Now Iowa State students can experience the traditional sound of mariachi music when Las Cuerdas Mexicanas performs tonight at 8 in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Linking Mexican culture with the Midwest, the event is part of Hispanic Heritage Month, a nationwide celebration of Latino communities which takes place from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

Azael Villanueva, student coach and organizer of Hispanic Heritage Month at ISU, said he is looking forward to the performance.

“I know there’s a lot of people that enjoyed the movie ‘Desperado’ and that’s a perfect example of mariachi music,” Villanueva said. “This mariachi band is not music you hear everywhere. It’s first time music for a lot of people.”

Hailing from Sterling, Ill., Las Cuerdas Mexicanas plays a traditional style of mariachi Latin music, employing two trumpet players, guitars, a violin and a cello.

“I heard them play in Des Moines last weekend,” Villanueva said. “They play the good old songs from back in Mexico.”

He added that the event will bring together all of the people who do know about mariachi music, but hopefully it will turn new people onto the music as well.

“It’s a chance to bring back music from back in the old days when [Latino students] used to live in Latin American countries,” he said.

Villanueva stressed that the performance is open to anyone, not just Hispanic students, and that many students who are interested in Latino culture or are taking Spanish classes will benefit from attending.

“There’s a lot of people who’d like to learn Spanish and there’s a lot of people taking Spanish classes, and they should check it out,” he said. “This is a great way to help [them] with Spanish class.”

Villanueva anticipates more than 100 people will attend, and a Mexican platter will offer free chips and salsa to the audience.

Las Cuerdas Mexicanas’ performance is sponsored by the Hispanic Heritage Month Committee, Minority Student Affairs, Mayas, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Committee on Lectures.

Other events planned for Hispanic Heritage Month include a panel discussion from four Hispanics from the media on Sept. 30, a movie night on Oct. 9 in the Chessman Lounge in Helser, a Latin dance on Oct. 15 and a speech defending affirmative action on Oct. 29.