Sílvia Pérez Cruz (born 15 February 1983) is a Spanish singer. In 2012, she recorded her first solo album, ''11 de Novembre'', which was nominated for album of the year in both Spain and France. A song performed by her, "No Te Puedo Encontrar", received a

Goya Award The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sci ...

for best original song for 2012. In 2014, she released her album ''Granada''. Both releases have been in collaboration with Raül Fernández Miró. She received another

for best original song, for the song "Ai, ai, ai", composed and performed by her, from the film "Cerca de tu casa" (2016).

Background

Cruz's parents were both singers who sang together. Her mother Glòria Cruz i Torrellas taught her to play the saxophone and piano as well as how to dance and sculpt. Her father Càstor Pérez Diz was a self-taught guitarist. She has a daughter. She went to

Catalonia College of Music The Catalonia College of Music ( ca, Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, ESMUC; ) is a music school in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The school is located at L'Auditori, a performing arts center inaugurated in 1999 which also houses three conc ...

in Barcelona, where she received classical training studying the piano and saxophone and receiving a degree in

vocal jazz Vocal jazz or jazz singing is an approach to jazz using the voice. Vocal jazz emerged in the early twentieth century, with its roots in Blues. Popular blues singers such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey had a great deal of influence of jazz vocalis ...

. While she was at Catalonia College of Music, she and three other women founded a

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

group called Las Migas. They combined their different musical approaches to create a new type of flamenco. It was not long after this that she became well known in the Spanish music scene. Cruz told

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

that a song must have a story. She believes that her view of songs as stories comes from her mother who was a singer and storyteller. Her mother, she said, also viewed songs as stories.

''11 de Novembre''

In 2012, Cruz released her album ''11 de Novembre'' with

Raül Refree Raül Fernandez Miró (Barcelona, 1976), better known as Raül ''Refree'', is a Spanish record producer, musician and composer. Career In 1996, Raül joined the melodic hardcore group, Barcelona Corn Flakes, with whom he recorded ''Ménage' ...

. She met Miró in 2006 and they toured together in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. Miró was both guitarist and producer for the album. Their songs have been described as a blend of music genres including

Fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado was ...

jazz improvisation Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts in a performance of jazz music. It is one of the defining elements of jazz. Improvisation is composing on the spot, when a singer or instrumentalist inv ...

, and

. Cruz won a Goya Award, Spain's most prestigious film award, for best original song "No Te Puedo Encontrar" in the film ''

Blancanieves ''Blancanieves'' (known as ''Blancaneu'' in Catalan) is a 2012 Spanish black-and-white silent drama film written and directed by Pablo Berger. Based on the 1812 fairy tale ''Snow White'' by the Brothers Grimm, the story is set in a romantic vis ...

''. The album received a Gold Award disc.

''Granada''

In 2014, Cruz released her second album ''Granada'', again collaborating with

. It reflects Cruz's practice of singing in multiple languages: French, German, English, and four Iberian languages. Included on the album is the song "El Cant Dells Ocells," a Catalan folk song previously made famous by

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,

. Another song is "Gallo Rojo, Gallo Negro", a well-known song from the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. Cruz first understood the story in the song when she was part of a concert honoring the remaining veterans of the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

who fought against the Nationales in the civil war. Cruz told NPR that she saw tears in the veterans' eyes when they sang the song in their own language. She said, "These people have lived through so much. It's good that I can sing and help them remember." As journalist Betto Arcos concluded, this example illustrates how Cruz comes to understand the stories in the songs she sings.

References

External links

Silvia Perez Cruz on Myspace

Silvia Perez Cruz on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Silvia Perez 1983 births People from Baix Empordà Singers from Catalonia Living people 21st-century Spanish singers 21st-century Spanish women singers