Mi Canción

Hispanics and Latinx-identifying individuals are the second largest ethnic population in the United States. It is estimated that this group will grow to 24% of the population by 2065. As the demographics of our student population change, voice teachers seek new and creative ways to engage their pupils and support the community. There are many existing resources that are familiar to the seasoned professional looking for Spanish-language art songs, such as the Hal Leonard Anthology of Spanish Song and collections like the Tonadillas by Enrique Granados, Cuatro madrigales amatorios by Joaquín Rodrigo, and Cinco canciones populares argentinas by Alberto Ginastera. The folk songs of Manuel Ponce are also experiencing increasing popularity. However, in a country where there is a rise of women in traditionally male-dominated professions that is not reflected in assigned vocal repertoire, an appropriate question may be: ¿dónde están las compositoras? This treatise considers the question as it relates to the continuing contributions of Latina composers to classical art song repertoire in the United States. There are many Latina identifying women, both foreign born and daughters of immigrants, who are traversing an untrodden path by pursuing careers as composers in the world of classical song literature. Their diverse faces represent the beauty of Latinidad; there is no one way to identify as Latina. Mari Valverde is the daughter of a long line of Mexican Americans whose national identity traces back to the reassignment of the US-Mexico border during the nineteenth century. Mari also identifies as a trans woman and uses her compositions to affect positive social change. She carefully selects texts that serve the soloists or ensembles who commission her work as part of benefit concerts that bring awareness to human rights issues. Tania León is a Cuban born Afro-Latina who benefited from the United States sponsored Freedom Flight program. She escaped a politically unstable country and combined the dance music of her homeland with jazz and other twentieth-century compositional genres to create her own individual style. Gabriela Lena Frank is the daughter of a Peruvian/Chinese mother and a Lithuanian/Jewish father. Her work explores what it means to exist as a multicultural American in the twenty-first century through the juxtaposition of traditional Peruvian instruments with the traditional Western string quartet or symphony orchestra. These three women tell us a story we have yet to hear in the mainstream repertoire of song literature. What does it mean to be an immigrant woman in a new land? How do women who have witnessed hundreds of years of machismo culture in their life experiences find the courage to dictate their own stories? What kinds of texts do they gravitate toward, and what do their compositional styles say about their journey? Is there something in this literature that can spark the interest of students who do not see themselves represented in standard song literature and who seek something that speaks to their heritage and identity? How would audiences respond to this repertoire? Why aren’t the works of Latina composers programed more often? This treatise seeks to close the gap between compositional output and public awareness of song literature composed by Latinas in the United States. Through exposure to and analysis of the works provided, voice teachers and performers alike can become more familiar with non-standard song literature by Latina composers. The document is organized by composer and contains information in assigning the repertoire to singers by taking into account pedagogical and musical considerations. The reader may also use this information to cultivate a recital program.