Violeta Parra
One of the most versatile artists to emerge from Chile in the 20th century, Violeta Parra remains as one of the most unique and powerful representatives of the nueva canción movement. A visionary artist, Parra would explore a multitude of platforms for her message of peace and social justice, from music to poetry and painting.
Born to a large humble family in the Ñuble countryside of Chile, Violeta del Cármen Parra Sandoval had to work much of her young life to support the family, and preferred singing and performing to her formal studies. Parra's father taught all his children to sing and play, and from those modest beginnings, Violeta set out on a singing career as a young girl, moving to Santiago and forming a duet with her sister known as Las Hermanas Parra. Without much success early on, Violeta married and had two children (one of them well known folk singer Angel Parra), yet continued to make her career a priority, which resulted in the end of her marriage.
She embarked on a more promising performing and recording career in the 1950s, and also traveled throughout Latin America and Europe, although the political content of some of her lyrics was banned in some Latin American cities such as Buenos Aires. Her expertise in the musicological research of Chilean folk music as well as her performing brought her to Western and Eastern Europe, and her painting lead to an exhibition at the Louvre in Paris, the first invitation for any Latin American artist.
Together with her children, Violeta established several peñas (cultural centers) where the family as well as invited musicians would perform, and she also wrote several volumes of poetry. One of her most celebrated (and widely recorded) compositions is "Gracias a la Vida," a hauntingly beautiful tribute to life in the face of darkness. Yet despite her successes, Violeta's inner pain resulted in her suicide on February 5, 1967. —Rebeca Mauleon