Lourdes Pérez

Infobox musical artist
Name = Lourdes Pérez


Img_capt = photo by Jennifer Davis, 2006. Creative Commons License.
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Bernardita de Lourdes Pérez
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Born = birth date|1961|2|12|mf=y
San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
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Instrument = Vocals, guitar
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Occupation = Singer, songwriter, composer, poet
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URL = http://www.lourdesperez.com
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Lourdes Pérez (born Bernardita de Lourdes Pérez on February 12, 1961) is a prolific Puerto Rican contemporary recording artist, songwriter, composer, arranger, poet, vocalist and guitarist. She is also one of few female "décimistas" (writer of décima, a specialized form of Spanish poetry). Pérez' music — often conjuring comparisons to the soulful world music genres of "cante jonde, morna and fado" — draws from her "jíbara" (Puerto Rican mountain) roots and a socially conscious genre of Spanish/pan-Latin American music called "nueva trova" or "nueva cancion."

Pérez was born in Hato Arriba, San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. 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 Velazquez to Canadian pop artist Jane Siberry. Acclaimed for her "ability to transcend language...with her achingly beautiful contralto voice," she has devoted her work to promoting human rights around the globe. Lourdes is one of 1000 performers in the world profiled in the "2000 Music Hound World Essential Album Guide" and she is featured in the "2005 Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States" (Oxford Press).

Her discography includes 7 CDs, a full length film score, a short film score, 2 modern dance scores, a theater score and numerous individual tributes, while several of her songs appear in films, compilations and anthologies. A concert at a Palestinian refugee camp prompted her Spanish translation of the Arabic song by Ahmad Kaabour/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 was read into the U.S. Congressional record by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (Texas) as part of a successful campaign against dumping nuclear waste inside a low-income Mexican American community on the Texas-Mexico border. In November 2006, her song, "Paloma Urbana" (Urban Dove) won Best Latin Song in the Just Plain Folks Music Awards.

Lourdes Pérez has been honored as one of the country's "finest living artists" and was awarded a 2006 United States Artists unrestricted fellowship for her contribution to music: [http://www.unitedstatesartists.org/Public/Home/index.cfm]

The contemporary Puerto Rican trova group, Somos Tres, and the Lebanese singer, May Nasr, have recorded and interpreted Pérez' work.

Published work

* En Vivo, Lourdes Perez con Miriam Perez (Chee Wee 2007), live duet concert with younger sister, Miriam Perez
* Este Filo (Chee Wee 2005), solo CD
* Azúl y Serena (Chee Wee 2003), commissioned work, recorded with the Dama de Noche Orchestra
* Pájaros de otro canto (Chee Wee 2003), commissioned soundtrack for the film, "¿Adónde Fue Juan José?"
* 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

* [http://www.lourdesperez.com lourdesperez.com]
* [http://www.answers.com/topic/lourdes-perez answers.com]
* [http://www.myspace.com/lourdesperezmusic myspace.com]
* [http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=555555642]
* [http://www.unitedstatesartists.org United States Artists Arts Advocacy Organization.]
* [http://www.unitedstatesartists.org/Public/EncounterUSAFellows/index.cfm United States Artist video]