Maridalia Hernández (born 19 August 1959) is a Dominican singer.

Early life and education

Maridalia Hernández was born in

Santiago de los Caballeros Santiago de los Caballeros ("James, son of Zebedee, Saint James of the Knights"), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the capital of ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

, in 1959. She was fully trained as a lyrical singer, pianist, cellist and music teacher.

Career

She made her live debut as a pop singer in 1981, while participating in a musical called ''Sonido Para Una Imagen'' (Sound for an Image). Later, she was cast to raving reviews as Maria Magdalena in the Spanish version of ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

''. In 1983, Hernández teamed up with

Juan Luis Guerra Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born 7 June 1957) is a People of the Dominican Republic, Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards including 28 Latin Grammy Awards, three Grammy Awards, ...

to assemble the successful bachata-merengue group 440. Her vocal quality identified the sound of the first years of the well known quartet. In 1986, she won the

Viña del Mar International Song Festival The Viña del Mar International Song Festival () is an annual international music festival held every third week of February in Viña del Mar, Chile. Started in 1960 it is the oldest and largest music festival in Latin America, and one of the long ...

with "Para Quererte," composed by Manuel Tejada and José Antonio Rodríguez. In 1988, she appeared with pianist

Michel Camilo Michel Camilo (born April 4, 1954) is a Dominican pianist and composer. He specializes in jazz, Latin and classical piano work. Background and career Camilo was born into a musical family and as a young child showed aptitude for the accordion ...

at the Festival de Jazz de

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and in 1989, she won third place, with the song "Te Ofrezco" in

Festival OTI OTI Festival (, ), often known simply as La OTI, was an international song competition, organised annually between 1972 and 2000 by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI), featuring participants representing primarily Ibero-America ...

. In 1992, she has also been awarded with the prizes "Aplauso 92" in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and ACE Award 1994, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In addition to her work with Camilo, she appeared with Cuban Jazz pianist,

Gonzalo Rubalcaba Gonzalo Rubalcaba (born May 27, 1963) is a Cuban jazz pianist and composer. Early life Rubalcaba was born Gonzalo Julio González Fonseca in Havana, Cuba into a musical family. He adopted his great grandmother's name for professional use, just a ...

on the album "Antiguo" for Blue Note Records. She currently lives in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

and has one daughter, Camila.

Discography

*''Te Ofrezco ''(1992) *''Amorosa'' (1993) *''Libre'' (2009)

References

1959 births Living people 20th-century Dominican Republic women singers Dominican Republic people of Spanish descent Latin music songwriters Bachata singers 21st-century Dominican Republic women singers Dominican Republic women songwriters Merengue musicians Women in Latin music {{DominicanRepublic-musician-stub