Victoria Eugenia Hernández Urrea, better known as Victoria Sur, is a Colombian singer, musician and composer born in Armenia, Quindío.[1] In 2021 she was nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards in the category of Best Latin Children's Album, for her record Nanas consentidoras.[2]

Victoria Sur
Background information
Birth nameVictoria Eugenia Hernández Urrea
BornArmenia, Quindío
GenresAndean, rock, jazz, children's song, latin
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Voice, guitar
Years active1990–present
LabelsIndependent

Biography

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Early life and Sombra y Luz duet

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Victoria was born in Armenia, capital of the department of Quindío.[3] She began her musical career at the age of ten, forming the duet Sombra y Luz with Luz Ángela Jiménez, a childhood friend. In the duet, which performed traditional Colombian music, she participated in several music festivals and recorded four albums.[4] In 1994 she received an award at the Mono Núñez Music Festival in the category of Best Vocal Duet.[5] Parallel to her work in Sombra y Luz, Victoria was a member of other musical projects, like Mandrágora.[1][6]

Career as a solo artist

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Bambuco ácido and Colección de mundos

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After her experience with Sombra y Luz, Victoria moved to Havana, Cuba to further her musical studies. There she began to compose songs and worked with a group of Colombian performers fusing Atlantic and Pacific rhythms with jazz, rock and other sounds.[1] She later returned to her country with some of her own compositions and recorded her first album under the stage name of Victoria Sur: Bambuco ácido. The disc, released in 2004, featured the collaboration of Colombian artist Juan Sebastián Monsalve.[4]

After participating in various events like the Ibero-American Theater Festival in Bogota and performing the official song of the 2005 Bolivarian Games, held in the cities of Armenia and Pereira, in 2008 she released her second studio album, entitled Colección de mundos. For the recording she was inspired by the work of progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd, Supertramp and Queen, and was produced by musicians Luis Fernando Charry of the band The Hall Effect and Ernesto "Teto" Ocampo of the group La Provincia.[4]

Belleza silvestre and Tu continente

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Thanks to the funding obtained after winning the Peña de Mujeres prize, awarded by the Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Foundation, Victoria Sur recorded her third disc in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2010. The album, entitled Belleza silvestre, features a strong influence of South American music,[4] and Argentine musicians like Claudio Cardone, Lucio Balduini, Alejandro Oliva and Cheba Massolo participated in its recording. The same year she participated in the celebration of the Bicentennial of the Independence of Colombia at the Plaza de Bolivar in Bogota, and received nominations in the Shock Awards in the category of Voice of the Year.[5][7]

Her next work, entitled Tu continente (2015), is a tribute to Latin American female composers like Violeta Parra, Consuelo Velásquez, Chabuca Granda, Matilde Casazola and Zully Murillo. The album only features one song of her authorship, the homonymous song "Tu continente".[4] Between 2016 and 2017 she participated in the musical and artistic project Tu nombre me sabe a tango, with which she had the opportunity to perform live in France, Spain and Colombia.[8]

Hasta el nuevo sol and Nanas consentidoras

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In 2017 she released Hasta el nuevo sol, her first album with original material since Belleza silvestre (2010).[4] In this record she presents elements of rhythms such as Bolivian huayno, Brazilian bossa nova, Colombian bambuco, Peruvian zamacueca and Argentine baguala.[9] That same year she received the Cafeto de Oro Award from the Mayor's Office of Armenia, and in 2018 she was recognized with the Artistic Merit Award from the Governor's Office of Quindío.[1]

In 2020 she ventured into children's music with the album Nanas consentidoras. The idea of recording an album of these characteristics was born after covering the song "Dormite" as a tribute to Colombian singer-songwriter Zully Murillo in her album Tu continente, and the experience of having given birth to her twin children Valentina and Sebastián.[10] Nanas consentidoras had a positive reception from the public and critics. It was included in the list of the most outstanding albums of 2020 by the Red de Periodistas Musicales de Iberoamérica (REDPEM)[11] and earned the artist a nomination for the Latin Grammy Awards in the category of Best Latin Children's Album.[2][12][13][14]

In 2021, she collaborated with Peruvian singer-songwriter Susana Baca in the musicalization of the poem "Camino de la patria" by Carlos Castro Saavedra.[6][15]

Discography

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Solo

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Year Title Record label
2004 Bambuco ácido Independent
2008 Colección de mundos
2010 Belleza silvestre
2015 Tu continente
2017 Hasta el nuevo sol
2020 Nanas consentidoras

Awards and nominations

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Year Event/Organization Award/Category Result
1994 Festival de Música Andina Mono Núñez Best Vocal Duet (with Luz Ángela Jiménez) Won
2003 Ministerio de Cultura Best Rock Composition Won
2010 Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Peña de Mujeres Award Won
Shock Awards Voice of the Year Nominated
2017 Alcaldía del Municipio de Armenia Cafeto de Oro Award Won
2018 Gobernación del Departamento del Quindío Artistic Merit Award Won
2021 Latin Grammy Awards Best Latin Children's Album Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Victoria Sur". Cronica del Quindio (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  2. ^ a b "Del 10 al 14 de noviembre, 20º Festival Internacional de Artes • Armenia en Teatro Azul". El Quindiano (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  3. ^ "La música es parte del motor de mi vida: Cantante quindiana Victoria Sur". Caracol Radio (in Spanish). 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Victoria Sur, de Bambuco Ácido, hasta el nuevo sol". Radio Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  5. ^ a b "Victoria Sur, artista auténtica y versátil". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  6. ^ a b "'Camino de la patria', de Victoria Sur con Susana Baca, en Miércoles de Descarga". Radio Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  7. ^ "Nominados a los Premios Shock de la Música". El Universal (in Spanish). 2010-09-21. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  8. ^ "Tu nombre me sabe a tango". Idartes (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  9. ^ "Victoria Sur: Lanzamiento de su nuevo disco Hasta el Nuevo Sol". Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  10. ^ "Victoria Sur y sus nanas consentidoras". Radio Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  11. ^ ""Nanas Consentidoras" un tierno viaje musical con Victoria Sur". Sayco (in Spanish). 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  12. ^ "Victoria Sur con su álbum "Nanas Consentidoras" nominada premios Grammy". Caracol Radio (in Spanish). 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  13. ^ "Victoria Sur, una parte de Colombia en los Latin Grammy". El Espectador (in Spanish). 2021-10-02. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  14. ^ "El mejor álbum infantil del año de los Grammy Latino es colombiano, rockero y sinfónico". Semana (in Spanish). 2021-11-24. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  15. ^ "Victoria Sur y Susana Baca le cantan a la paz". Caracol Radio (in Spanish). 2021-05-22. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
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