María Francesca Ancarola Saavedra (born 18 March 1968) is a Chilean singer and songwriter. Ancarola's musical style is a mix of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, with social justice themes, and she is considered a part of the Chilean New Song movement.

Career

Ancarola began her musical career in the 1980s, winning a prize at a festival organised by the magazine ''La Bicicleta y el Café del Cerro'', a publication associated with the Chilean New Song movement. She graduated from the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

with a degree in music and later studied singing at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (''PUC or UC Chile'') ( es, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical universities i ...

. In 1997, she won a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to study at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

. Ancarola's first album as a soloist was ''Que el canto tiene sentido'' (English: For a song has meaning) in 1999. The album's title was a tribute to the song ''Manifiesto'' by

Víctor Jara Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a broad array of works, rang ...

, the popular singer-songwriter of the New Song movement and activist, who was killed by the

Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean Captain general#Chile, general who ruled Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990), Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Gover ...

-led military regime in 1973. Her subsequent albums, ''Pasaje de ida y vuelta'' (Return ticket – 2000) and ''Jardines humanos'' (Human Gardens – 2002), further developed her Latin American fusion style, the former receiving an

Altazor Award The Altazor Award of the National Arts or simply Altazor, is a Chilean award which is awarded annually. The winners are chosen by the own creators and performers of the arts. They were established in 1958, but were not awarded until 1999. The a ...

. In 2003 she released ''Sons of the same sun'' through Petroglyph Records, based in Taos, New Mexico. This album included some of her repertoire sung in English. In 2004 she released ''Contigo aprendí'' (With you I learned), an album composed of

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

s. Ancarola again paid tribute to Jara in 2006 with the release of her album ''Lonquén'', where Ancarola covers some of Jara's songs using "more contemporary language". "Victor came from a poor family, but despite this he managed to transcend and cultivate himself... to become an icon of our music," Ancarola said regarding the album's release. The album earned the musician her second

. In 2008, Ancarola released ''Arrullos'' (Lullabies), an album of children's songs, which was nominated for an Altazor Award. Ancarola's album ''Templanza'' (Temperance) was released in 2012. In 2016, she released a full album titled Espejo de los Sueños.

Influences

Ancarola's musical influences include

Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal and ...

Milton Nascimento Milton Nascimento (; born October 26, 1942), also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has toured across the world. Nascimento has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music Album for his alb ...

Chabuca Granda María Isabel Granda Larco (3 September 1920 – 8 March 1983), better known as Chabuca Granda, was a Peruvian singer and composer. She created and interpreted a vast number of Criollo waltzes with Afro-Peruvian rhythms. Granda's "La flor de la ...

Silvio Rodríguez Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born 29 November 1946) is a Cuban musician, and leader of the Nueva Trova movement. He is widely considered Cuba's best folk singer and arguably one of Latin America's greatest singer-songwriters. Known for his int ...

and

Chico Buarque Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...

. Francesca Ancarola at Altazor
2015 Altazor – Premio a las Artes Nacionales, retrieved on 20 January 2015

Discography

* ''Que el canto tiene sentido'' (1999) * ''Pasaje de ida y vuelta'' (2000) * ''Jardines humanos'' (2002) * ''Sons of the same sun'' (2003) * ''Contigo aprendí'' (2004) * ''Lonquén'' (2006) * ''Arrullos'' (2008) * ''Templanza'' (2012) * ''Espejo de los Sueños'' (2016) * ''La Desentonada'' (2018)

References

External links

Francesca Official siteFrancesca Ancarola, Musica popular database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancarola, Francesca 20th-century Chilean women singers Chilean folklorists Living people 1968 births Chilean folk singers 21st-century Chilean women singers Chilean women singer-songwriters Chilean singer-songwriters Chilean people of Italian descent Chilean women folklorists

Career

Influences

Discography

See also

References

External links