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For those who haven’t read my previous posts, I must say I am a music teacher and a singer. I was born in Venezuela and I have been singing since I was probably 4 or 5 years old. Music had been in my life one way or another, but two years ago I moved from my country to Costa Rica, and had to start from scratch. In these cases not everyone is lucky to continue their career as it was. The first year I was very nostalgic about everything I had to leave: my students, my job, my friends, the cultural movement that was taking place in my city, the fact that I was somehow known.
I think I’ll always miss all of that. But now, after a two year detour, I have started my way back to music. And I feel great. One of these days I read something I agreed with instantly : Everyone tells you how much you’ll suffer when doing art (music) for a living. But no one tells you how much you’ll suffer without music in your life. I remember when my baby was born, and I had to be “out of business” for months. You won’t believe the joy I felt when I was able to attend to a concert and just “breathe music” again. It was pure bliss.
Well when I found out I wasn’t going to be able to get a musical full time job instantly when I moved to Costa Rica, I didn’t think it would be so hard. I just took the first decent job that would allow me to pay the bills, and it was good. But gosh I needed music. After two years I quit that job and started looking for a way back to music.
So I started singing at the local choir, and offering private lessons, and going to concerts again. I applied for jobs as music teacher and this time I got one, but the recruitment process was loooong. After 7 months… today is my first day. But I’m not here to tell you about that. This time I want to write about what kept me from going absolutely insane the past two months:
This year I finally met some people I can musically relate to. I was eager to sing but I needed allies. The new piano teacher at the local music school was the key. I told him that I had been wanting to put together an entire concert made of lullabies from different countries. And he said: let’s do it. Timing was perfect, because I wanted to do it for Mother’s Day, which here is celebrated on August 15th. So we had almost two months to make it happen.
I had some songs I definitely wanted to sing. Some of them were Venezuelan lullabies, some other songs I had sung as part of the academic repertoire. My new ally had some suggestions and then I found a lovely girl who was willing to sing some duets with me.
I don’t really know when this fascination with lullabies started. But by july 2018 it was officially an obsession, and most importantly, a project. So, for two months I forgot about being jobless, and I put my energy into it. This was my comeback concert. And I couldn’t wait to sing it.
Lullabies remind me to my mom. She died almost 10 years ago. But she is always in my heart. I remember she used to sing to us. When she was pregnant with me she took guitar lessons, and when I was born, she sang for me. My Venezuelan family is not very musical, so one of my aunts asked my mom to record a lullabies tape, so she would be able to play it for her sons at bedtime. Those cousins are pretty much my only musical cousins. My brothers can play some instruments and sing, so I believe my mom planted the music seed in all of us. And she did it through lullabies. So this concert was really close to my heart. We managed to book two dates in different towns. So it was double happiness. This was the final concert program:
I think I’ll always miss all of that. But now, after a two year detour, I have started my way back to music. And I feel great. One of these days I read something I agreed with instantly : Everyone tells you how much you’ll suffer when doing art (music) for a living. But no one tells you how much you’ll suffer without music in your life. I remember when my baby was born, and I had to be “out of business” for months. You won’t believe the joy I felt when I was able to attend to a concert and just “breathe music” again. It was pure bliss.
Well when I found out I wasn’t going to be able to get a musical full time job instantly when I moved to Costa Rica, I didn’t think it would be so hard. I just took the first decent job that would allow me to pay the bills, and it was good. But gosh I needed music. After two years I quit that job and started looking for a way back to music.
So I started singing at the local choir, and offering private lessons, and going to concerts again. I applied for jobs as music teacher and this time I got one, but the recruitment process was loooong. After 7 months… today is my first day. But I’m not here to tell you about that. This time I want to write about what kept me from going absolutely insane the past two months:
My lullaby concert.
This year I finally met some people I can musically relate to. I was eager to sing but I needed allies. The new piano teacher at the local music school was the key. I told him that I had been wanting to put together an entire concert made of lullabies from different countries. And he said: let’s do it. Timing was perfect, because I wanted to do it for Mother’s Day, which here is celebrated on August 15th. So we had almost two months to make it happen.
I had some songs I definitely wanted to sing. Some of them were Venezuelan lullabies, some other songs I had sung as part of the academic repertoire. My new ally had some suggestions and then I found a lovely girl who was willing to sing some duets with me.
I don’t really know when this fascination with lullabies started. But by july 2018 it was officially an obsession, and most importantly, a project. So, for two months I forgot about being jobless, and I put my energy into it. This was my comeback concert. And I couldn’t wait to sing it.
Lullabies remind me to my mom. She died almost 10 years ago. But she is always in my heart. I remember she used to sing to us. When she was pregnant with me she took guitar lessons, and when I was born, she sang for me. My Venezuelan family is not very musical, so one of my aunts asked my mom to record a lullabies tape, so she would be able to play it for her sons at bedtime. Those cousins are pretty much my only musical cousins. My brothers can play some instruments and sing, so I believe my mom planted the music seed in all of us. And she did it through lullabies. So this concert was really close to my heart. We managed to book two dates in different towns. So it was double happiness. This was the final concert program:
- Arrullo para un negrito (Venezuelan song by Ivan perez Rossi)
- Mi tripon (Venezuelan song by Otilio Galindez)
3.Dormite (Colombian lullaby by Zully Murillo) here is it at soundcheck
4.Nana (Spanish popular song by Manuel de Falla)
5.Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito (Spanish song by Xavier Montsalvatge) here
6.Lullabye ( lullaby by Billy Joel) listen here
7.Seal Lullaby (choral composition by Eric Whitacre)
8.Arrullo (by Costarrican Julio Mata) listen here
9.Drume negrita (Cuban song by E. Grenet)
10.Cancion para bañar a la luna (Argentinian song by Maria Elena Walsh)
I only provided links to some of them, not all of them were captured in video and you can listen to the rest of them by visiting my youtube channel
I can't end this post without thanking my friends Luis Diego Villalobos (piano) and Nazareth Alpizar (guitar/charango/and duet vocals). This couldn't have been possible without them. It was a little idea that became a reality thanks to their unconditional contribution.
And last but not least, I have to tell you about the best view I had from the stage..my husband and two kids, the love of my life... those 3 pairs of beautiful eyes, looking at me from first row. They were the ones that knew all the songs by heart, and the ones in my heart while I was singing all those songs!
Thank you for reading and joining me on this musical journey... sweet dreams!