Katia Cardenal
The Oracle Piano Society is pleased to present Katia and Nina Cardenal, top female musicians from Nicaragua, in concert on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. at the Oracle Center for the Arts, 700 E. Kingston St. The concert is free, but donations are always accepted.
Ted Warmbrand is sponsoring the event.
Katia Cardenal, Nicaraguan musician and activist, will share her beautiful music and powerful message against violence.
Katia Cardenal was born in Nicaragua in 1963. She became a fan of popular music at an early age and began to perform in public with her brother, Salvador, when they were just 16. They called themselves the Duo Guardabarranco, after their national bird.
It did not take long for her fresh harmonies, original poetry, and melodic songs to gain popularity. She was not only recognized by people in her country, but also internationally by the supporters of Moviminto de la Nueva Cancion Latinoamericana. With only a few years of experience, she began to tour the Americas and Europe.
Amidst her other work, Katia also graduated as a musical educator in 1984 and worked as a flute and solfa teacher for kids and adolescents in different schools.
Since January 1997, she has strengthened her solo career and released nine solo albums, which represented different stages of her career. In 2004, she started her own record label in Nicaragua. Currently, she gives concerts and continues doing her songs, her brother Salvador Cardenal’s songs, and those of other Hispanic and Scandianvian composers. Since 2008, she tours with her daughter, Nina Cardenal who sings and plays guitar.
Katia Cardenal is arguably the most prominent female musician in Nicaraguan history. Singing her brother’s composition, Dame Tu Corazon, she won an OTI on Spanish language TV in international competition with the greats representing every Spanish speaking country. Their albums produced by their big fan Jackson Browne were released on Holly Near’s Redwood label. When rereleased, their music eventually was heard on Katia’s own MOKA Discos label.
Since her brother passed away, Katia has been the voice for not only his groundbreaking ecologically centered love songs but her own songs that focus on women’s strength. To enrich her commitment in that direction, Katia has originated and produced annual concerts at the Nicaraguan National Theatre of Latin American women songwriters. She has also released a children’s album of her original songs.
Nina, Katia’s accompanist, can not only miraculously duplicate her uncle’s delicious guitar stylings to a tee, but can add her own youthful imaginative arrangement to his songs and her mom’s.
Listen to 2016 interview on NPR.