Zoraida Santiago

Last updated
Zoraida Santiago
Birth nameZoraida Santiago Buitrago
BornMay 25, 1952
Santurce, Puerto Rico
Genres Puerto Rican folkloric music
Occupation(s) Composer and singer
Instrument(s)Piano and guitar

Dr. Zoraida Santiago (born May 25, 1952) is a composer and singer of Puerto Rican folkloric themes.

Contents

Early years

Santiago (birth name:Zoraida Santiago Buitrago [note 1] ) was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico to Domingo Santiago and Zayda Buitrago. [1] She was raised and educated in Santurce and at a very young age became interest in musical instruments. Her parents had her take piano lessons as a child. She also took lessons about musical composition and harmony. Santiago is a self-taught guitarist. After graduating from high school, Santiago moved to New York City where she pursued her university studies in anthropology.

Musical career

External audio
Nuvola apps arts.svg You may listen to Zoraida Santiago's "Canta poema de Julia de Burgos" on YouTube.

In 1978, she met fellow Puerto Rican singer Roy Brown. Santiago joined Brown's musical group, Aires Bucaneros, and participated in the recordings of Aires Bucaneros (1979) and Casi Alba (1980). Both albums contain compositions by Santiago. These are "Prisa Loca" (Crazy Rush), "De la Tierra en que Naci" (From the land I was born) and "Canciones para Vieques" (Songs for Vieques). Santiago went on tour with the group to various countries. [2]

In 1982, Santiago returned to Puerto Rico and made her "first" solo recording, "Tiene que ser la Luna" (It must be the Moon). During that decade she also participated in and produced some local theatrical productions. Among these were Las Bohemias, Mujeres Sin Hombres (Women without Men), Matutina and Tres Momentos (Three moments). She traveled to Mexico and the United States with the theatrical group.

Santiago composed, interpreted and recorded the music for the movie made for T.V. Luisa Capetillo, Pasión de justicia (Luisa Capetillo, Passion for Justice), directed by Sonia Fritz. In 1985, she held a concert titled Antillanas at the Sylvia Rexach theater in San Juan. In 1994, Santiago recorded Canciones Sublevadas, which included various of her compositions plus some poems of Julia de Burgos to which she added music. [3]

In 2002, Santiago and Roy Brown recorded Bohemia, which included boleros from different composers, such as Pedro Flores – "Bajo la Palma" (Under the Palm Tree) – and Rafael Hernández – "Silencio" (Silence). Their album was nominated for a Tu Musica Award for best bolero recording of the year. [2]

Later years

Santiago earned her Doctorate Degree in Anthropology and is a professor of Social Sciences in the University of Puerto Rico. She also belongs to a group of singers who operate an Internet radiotrova. She has a program called Magia de la Cancion (Song's Magic). In April 2004, Santiago released her latest album "Del Sueño al Hecho" (From Dreams to Reality).

In early 2008, Santiago's Conciones Por Todas Partes won in The 7th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Latin Song. [4] In May 2010, Santiago together with Danny Rivera, Silverio Pérez, Carlos Esteban Fonseca, Tito Auger and the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra provided the students who were on strike at the University of Puerto Rico with cultural and musical performances. [3]

Note

  1. ↑

See also

Related Research Articles

Danny Rivera is a singer and songwriter born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well known in Puerto Rico for his political activism. In 2008, Rivera acquired Dominican Republic citizenship. After 12 years of work, Danny Rivera and Nelson González in 2014 finished work putting new life into the classical bolero - in Spanish. Rivera and González Hit the Heart of the Latin American Song Book on Obsesión

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bomba (Puerto Rico)</span> Traditional musical style of Puerto Rico

Bomba is both a traditional dance and musical style of Puerto Rico. Its origins are rooted in the island's history of African slavery but today has evolved into a community expression of Puerto Rican culture. While Bomba can be used as the generic name for a number of rhythms, it is truly about a creative, interactive relationship between dancers, percussionists and singers. Also, Puerto Ricans migrants have brought the tradition to some parts of the U.S. mainland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luisa Capetillo</span> Puerto Rican labor organizer (1879–1922)

Luisa Capetillo was one of Puerto Rico's most famous labour leaders. She was an anarchist writer, activist, labour organiser who fought for workers' rights, women's rights, free love, and human emancipation.

Julita Ross was a singer of Puerto Rican danzas, also known as "The Great Lady of the Danzas".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Brown (Puerto Rican musician)</span> American-born Puerto Rican composer and singer

Roy Brown Ramírez is a Puerto Rican musician and singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedro Ortiz Dávila</span> Puerto Rican activist and singer

Pedro Ortiz Dávila, better known as Davilita, was a popular Puerto Rican singer of boleros and patriotic songs. He was the first artist to record the Rafael Hernández standard "Lamento Borincano".

Luis Felipe Rodríguez, better known as Felipe "La Voz" Rodríguez, born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, was a singer of boleros. He is regarded as the most popular Puerto Rican male singer of the 1950s based on record sales and live audience records. Many of Rodríguez's recordings are often considered to be classics in Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia Rexach</span> Puerto Rican composer

Sylvia Regina Rexach González was a Puerto Rican comedy scriptwriter, poet, singer and composer of boleros.

Lunna is a Puerto Rican singer of popular music and jazz who was the director of the television show Objetivo Fama, the Latin version of American Idol.

Tito Lara, was considered by many to be Puerto Rico's first television singing idol.

Ángel "Cucco" Peña is a composer, musician, singer, and record producer.

Nino Segarra is a singer, composer, musician and musical arranger.

Americo Boschetti is a singer, composer and guitarist. Composer of over 500 songs, Boschetti has also transformed many poems into songs by adding music to the lyrics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico</span> Barrio of Puerto Rico

Santurce is a barrio of San Juan. Its population in 2020 was 69,469. It is also the biggest and most populated of all the barrios in the capital city with a bigger population than most municipalities of Puerto Rico and one of the most densely populated areas of the island .

Zeny y Zory, Las gemelas Beveraggi,, are identical twins and have performed as a pop-music duet since the age of 15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puchi Balseiro</span> Puerto Rican musician

Puchi Balseiro (born Aurea Mercedes Balseiro; November 1, 1926 in Santurce, Puerto Rico – January 11, 2007) was a composer in the filin ("feeling") music genre.

Daniela Droz is a Puerto Rican actress, singer, and television host.

Rafael Trelles is a postmodern artist from Puerto Rico.

<i>Aires Bucaneros</i> 1979 studio album by Roy Brown

Aires Bucaneros is the sixth album from Puerto Rican folk singer Roy Brown, and his first with the group Aires Bucaneros. The album was released under Brown's label Discos Lara-Yarí in 1979.

<i>Casi Alba</i> 1980 studio album by Roy Brown

Casi Alba is the seventh album from Puerto Rican folk singer Roy Brown, and his second with the group Aires Bucaneros. The album was released under Brown's label Discos Lara-Yarí in 1980.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.