Ulloa Puts Spotlight On Latinas In Music
By Beth Wood, STAFF WRITER

Honoring female heroes in music comes naturally to singer Juanita Ulloa. Her albums "Mujeres (Women)" and the recently released "Mujeres y Mariachis (Women and Mariachis)" feature songs by women, including Maria Grever ("What a Difference a Day Makes"), Consuelo Velasquez ("Besame Mucho") and Ulloa herself.

Ulloa will perform "Latinas," a collection of rancheras, boleros and huapangos written by or about women, at the newly remodeled Centro Cultural de La Raza in Balboa Park Saturday to celebrate International Women's Day. Commemorated by the United Nations and a national holiday in some countries, the day recognizes women's struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

While "Latinas" fits into that theme perfectly, Ulloa didn't have the day in mind when she started her research.
"I knew I wanted to compose Latin music," she said, speaking from her Oakland Hills home studio. "I thought maybe I was just unaware of other women composers, so I started looking into it. I found that few women had been composers in Latin America before the 1990s, and those few had been active since 1928. These women were from well-to-do families, so they had the opportunity to be classically trained. I identified with them because my training was classical."

Born in New Jersey to an American mother and a Panamanian father, Ulloa was raised in Panama, Spain and, primarily, Mexico City. Her studies in music took her to Yale, the Nice Conservatory in France and UC Berkeley, where she earned a master's degree in ethnomusicology.

"So few women with extensive classical training have sung this music; even fewer compose," said Ulloa, who was a self-described starving opera singer for eight years. "They haven't been encouraged to or, in some cases, allowed to. My experience growing up in a traditional family in Mexico City made clear that it was acceptable to learn music as long as it was for debutante preparation. But as soon as you want to make a living from it, it is a different reaction."

Breaking new ground has been a way of life for Ulloa. Not only a female singing with mariachis ("that's the ensemble," she explained, "the genre is called ranchera"), she sometimes simply accompanies herself on piano, a rarity for this music. Borrowing from her operatic background, she also is developing a style she calls mariachi coloratura, which explores a range much higher than traditionally heard in these songs.

"I don't want to use the high notes to impress the audience - although that can be fun," she said with a laugh, "It has to stay within the style."

At Ulloa's concert in San Diego, she will sing and play piano, accompanied by North County Latin jazz percussionist Roy Gonzalez. In the second segment, she will sing with Mariachi Chula Vista. After the performance, all attending are invited to a reception.

Ulloa has a thriving CD and songbook business centered around "Canta Conmigo/Sing with Me," a series of three children albums and corresponding songbooks with guides for teachers. The award-winning package is used in many California schools.

A professional music coach, Ulloa will present a workshop the morning of the performance on how to protect the voice. "It's about vocal health," she said. "We'll discuss things you can do on the job to save your voice. Teachers are perfect candidates for this workshop. And, of course, anyone who wants to talk about women and music, that's fine, too."
N&D

Copyright 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.