Susana Baca

Susana Baca is one of the best-known and respected singers and performers from South America today. Born in the coastal barrio of Chorrillos, outside Lima (Peru) where the descendants of slaves have lived since the days of the Spanish empire, Baca has avidly pursued folk singing and dancing since childhood. While in school, she took an interest in the poets of Peru and began to see herself as a link in the cultural work of preservation and instruction. Baca formed an experimental music group combining poetry and song. Through grants from Peru’s Institute of Modern Art and the National Institute of Peruvian Culture, she began performing. Singer, dancer, teacher, student, Baca has dedicated herself to the preservation of the history and culture of her people, the African descendants of Peru. She and her husband, Ricardo Pereira, also founded the Instituto Negrocontinuo [“Black Continuum”] in Lima, a facility for the exploration, expression and creation of black Peruvian culture. She holds a repertoire of both old and new; some traditional songs about the life of the countryside, and others about rhythm and dancing.

Susana Baca collaborated with Eduardo Vilaro on the creation of Mi Corazón Negro and performed live when it was premiered at the Harris Theater (Chicago) in 2006.