Lourdes Pérez (born Bernardita de Lourdes Pérez Cruz on February 12, 1961) is a prolific Puerto Rican contemporary

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, composer, arranger,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

oral historian Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

and guitarist. She is also one of few female ''decimistas'' (writer of

décima A décima is a ten-line stanza of poetry. The most popular form is called décima espinela after Vicente Espinel (1550–1624), a Spanish writer, poet, and musician from the Siglo de Oro who used it extensively throughout his compositions. The d� ...

, a specialized form of Spanish poetry). Often conjuring comparisons to the soulful world music genres of cante jonde, morna and

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 ...

, Pérez' body of music has been characterized as folk opera ("opera of the people") that honors her ''jíbara'' (Puerto Rican mountain) roots and the legacy of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

/pan-

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

nueva trova Nueva Trova (, "new trova") is a movement in Cuban music that emerged around 1967/68 after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes. Nueva Trova has its roots in the traditional trova, but differs from it beca ...

or nueva cancion.

Life and work

Pérez was born in Hato Arriba, San Sebastián,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. Considered by many to be "among the great Latin American female vocalists" and songwriters, Lourdes Pérez has performed duets with numerous legendary and diverse artists, from Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa and Mexican master decimista

Guillermo Velázquez Guillermo Velázquez (born 1948) is a Mexican musician from Xichú Xichú is a Mexican city (and municipality) located in the Northeast region of the state of Guanajuato. The municipality is entirely within the Sierra Gorda range and has an area ...

to Canadian pop artist

Jane Siberry Jane Siberry ( ; ; born 12 October 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known for such hits as " Mimi on the Beach", "I Muse Aloud", " One More Colour" and "Calling All Angels". She performed the theme song to the television series ''Maniac M ...

.Usher, Craig
"Lourdes Pérez Interview."
''Rootsworld.com'', retrieved 14 February 2009. Acclaimed for her "ability to transcend language...with her achingly beautiful

voice," she has devoted her work to promoting

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

around the globe. Pérez is one of 1000 performers in the world profiled in the ''MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide'' (2000) and she is featured in the ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States'' (Oxford University Press, 2005). Her discography includes 13 CDs, a full-length film score, a short film score, 2 modern dance scores, a theater score and numerous individual tributes, while her songs appear in films, CD compilations and anthologies. A concert at a

Palestinian refugee camp Camps are set up by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to accommodate Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, who fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestinian e ...

prompted her Spanish translation of the Arabic song by

Ahmad Kaabour Ahmad Kaabour ( ar, أحمد قعبور; born 9 July 1955, in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanon, Lebanese singer, songwriter, music composer and actor. He is perhaps best known for his song ''Ounadikom'' which he composed in 1975 upon the outbreak of ...

/Tawfeeq Zayad, "Unadeekum (Te llamo)", which was later released on her CD, ''Este Filo''. A song that Pérez wrote for the people of

Sierra Blanca, Texas Sierra Blanca is an unincorporated area in Hudspeth County, Texas, United States. It is also the county seat of the county and the namesake of a census-designated place (CDP) in which it is located. The town is part of the Trans-Pecos region of far ...

was read into the U.S. Congressional record by Rep.

Lloyd Doggett Lloyd Alton Doggett II (born October 6, 1946) is an American attorney and politician who is a U.S. representative from Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented a district based in Austin since 1995, currently numbered as ...

(Texas) as part of a successful campaign against dumping nuclear waste inside a low-income Mexican American community on the Texas-Mexico border. References to her strong support for the independence of Puerto Rico can be found in several of her songs. In November 2006, her song, "Paloma Urbana" (Urban Dove) won Best Latin Song in the Just Plain Folks Music Awards. Over the years, she has been asked to write or improvise tributes to other artists, human rights leaders and elders, such as Chicana scholar

Gloria Anzaldúa Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkin ...

, Puerto Rican nationalist centenarian Isabel Rosado and disappeared Mayan resistance leader Efraín Bámaca Velásquez ("Comandante Everardo"). Pérez recently provided contextual information on Puerto Rican poetry for U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Sonia Sotomayor Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...

's memoir,

My Beloved World ''My Beloved World'' is a memoir written by Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice on the United States Supreme Court, about her childhood, education, and life through 1992. Background In July 2010, Sotomayor agreed to publish a memoir, d ...

(2013). Lourdes Pérez was honored, alongside

Ali Akbar Khan Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he a ...

, as one of the country's "finest living artists" and was awarded a 2006

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

unrestricted fellowship for her contribution to music.United States Artists
"Lourdes Pérez"
, retrieved 14 February 2009. The contemporary Puerto Rican trova group, Somos Tres, and the Lebanese singer,

May Nasr May Nasr ( ar, مي نصر; born 1965) is a Lebanese singer, musician and microfinancing consultant. She was born in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1965 and she got a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Beirut in 1987. Biography She appeared f ...

, have recorded and interpreted Pérez's work. Pérez is openly lesbian, and has written songs about lesbian experience. "Yo Pari Una Luchadora" (I Gave Birth to a Fighter) is a song dedicated to the mother of a lesbian human rights activist. Perez has lived and traveled with her partner and collaborator, Annette D'Armata, since 1991.

Published work

* Tengo la Vida: Lourdes Pérez in concerto, live from Rome (Block Nota Records, 2018) * Still Here: Homenaje al Westside de San Antonio, Oral history book and music CD, Lourdes Pérez composer, multiple artists (Chee Wee Records/Esperanza Press, 2018) * Al Caer la Tarde, Lourdes Pérez and Eva Ybarra, 6 track EP (Chee Wee Records, 2016) * Written in Water, Lourdes Pérez and May Nasr (duet CD in Spanish and Arabic) with special guest Ahmad Kaabour (Chee Wee Records, 2016) * Dulce Vigilante: Remembranzas de la Región Oeste de Puerto Rico, Illustrated book and music CD, (Chee Wee House, 2015) * 20 Años, Boxed collection of works from 1994 -2014, includes 8 CDs (Chee Wee Records, 2014) * Te Llamo * Ounadikum, 3-track CD single recorded in Spanish and Arabic with May Nasr and special guest Ahmad Kaabour (Chee Wee Records 2011) * En Vivo, Lourdes Perez con Miriam Perez, live duet concert with younger sister, Miriam Perez (Chee Wee, 2007) * Este Filo, solo CD (Chee Wee, 2005) * Azúl y Serena, commissioned work, recorded with the Dama de Noche Orchestra (Chee Wee, 2003) * Pájaros de otro canto, commissioned soundtrack for the film, ''¿Adónde Fue Juan José?'' (Chee Wee, 2003) * Selections from Tres Oraciones (Chee Wee, 2002) * Vestigios (Vivavoce Records, 1997) * Recuerdate Por Mi (Chee Wee, 1994)

Full-length scores

* Azul y Serena (multimedia tribute concert) * Santuarios (modern/folkloric dance) * conflama (word opera, theater) * Adonde Fue Juan Jose (feature film) * Marejada (multimedia, oral history)

References

External links

lourdesperez.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Lourdes 1961 births Living people Women guitarists Puerto Rican lesbian musicians Puerto Rican LGBT singers Puerto Rican LGBT poets Puerto Rican LGBT songwriters People from San Sebastián, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican activists Puerto Rican women composers 20th-century Puerto Rican women singers Puerto Rican guitarists Puerto Rican singer-songwriters Lesbian singers Lesbian poets Lesbian songwriters Lesbian composers 21st-century Puerto Rican women singers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people

Life and work

Published work

Full-length scores

See also

References

External links