Draft:Olga Milla

Olga Milla is a Peruvian singer-songwriter, social communicator and reporter with a sponsorship to study arts at New York University. She is also a speaker on issues related to the conditions of production of musical culture inside and outside Peru. She lives in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, with her husband, Peruvian guitarist Edmundo Vargas.

Born in Lima to a father from Huanuco and a mother from Lima, Olga is a pioneer in the independent production of Peruvian music outside Peru, in which she summons renowned musicians from the Peruvian community in the United States. In the 1990s she integrated her musical productions Caricia and Repercusión on digital platforms.

In 2010 she participated in university documentaries, and was a speaker in talks on Tondero and coastal music of Peru. That year she obtained the recognition of the José María Arguedas National School of Folklore and of the Institute of Ethnomusicology of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She was summoned to the group of Bearers of Creole Music promoted by the Management of Planning, Management and Recovery of the Historic Center of Lima, PROLIMA, which managed to have Creole music and song recognized as Cultural Heritage of the Nation, in which Olga emphasized that Creole music, like all cultural production, is a dynamic process that influences and is influenced.

In the 1970s, the intense university environment brought her closer to what Olga called “codes of creation and Peruvianness” with the Peruvian architect [./Https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Héctor_Velarde_BergmannHéctor Velarde] and the musician [./Https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Pinilla_Sánchez-ConchaPaco Pinilla]. In those years she shared meetings with guitarists Vicente Vásquez and Félix Casaverde, with their traditional and modern styles respectively. Olga attended peñas without a microphone, met and developed friendships with popular singers such as Rafael Sánchez Cerro, who lived near her home in Lima. She met [./Https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrés_SotoAndrés Soto], in his beginnings, who invited her to sing at his venue El Sótano de Soto and with whom she shared the stage in the last presentation made by the author of El Tamalito. She met [./Https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chabuca_GrandaChabuca Granda] at friends' houses, who encouraged Olga to continue writing.

Olga Milla interviews and shares with national creators such as [./Https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Maguiña Alicia Maguiña] and [./Https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Hayre Carlos Hayre]. Hayre is part of the musical arrangements of CARICIA and REPERCUSSION: AFRO-PERUVIAN BALLADS AND OTHER AGITATIONS. Olga Milla collaborated musically with maestro Hayre during Hayre's stay in the United States in the 1930s. After being part of the long-playing album El Carbón y sus Amigos, produced in 1979, Olga Milla married Edmundo Vargas, a guitarist who knew the Creole tradition, who was assigned to work in New Jersey, where the newlyweds moved and where they lived for many years.

Outside of her native Peru, Olga Milla embarks on a solitary personal search to produce, to create from her identity and experiences.

During a tour in Spain of Óscar Avilés and Arturo el Zambo Cavero, Olga Milla sings with them and interviews Don Oscar Avilés, as a correspondent for the Peruvian radio program "Déjame que te cuente". She also interviews other Peruvian artists touring Spain, as well as other international personalities such as Alberto Cortéz, María Dolores Pradera, Mercedes Sosa and the Peruvian writer Bryce Echenique.

In 1996 she released her album CARICIA in the United States, in which, respecting the Peruvian musical tradition, she displayed creative freedom as an independent producer and performer, arousing the attention of the national press and respected composers such as [./Https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/César_Miró César Miró] and [./Https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_CavagnaroMario Cavagnaro]. The songs achieved high rotation on Radio Nacional del Perú and radio programs of university stations interested in World Music. With nothing more than the opinion of connoisseurs and audience, she is invited to be part of the musical production Rough Guide of Afro Peru in London.

In 2005, after a long process of presentations in Latin music circuits, she released Repercussion: Afro-Peruvian Ballads and Other Agitations, which was chosen in 2005 among the 5 best productions made by Latinos in the USA by Latin Beat magazine, whose editor Luis Tamargo highlights her songwriting. With songs from the popular imagination and representative musicians, this production becomes a bedside album for new generations of musical groups to date.

In 2010, she was invited to personal recitals at the School of Music of the Catholic University and others with full houses at ICPNA, as well as iconic venues such as the church of Sto Domingo and the CSCM Breña.

Due to the restrictions due to the pandemic and the cancellation of her recital in the Varga Llosa auditorium of the National Library and without being able to do face-to-face concerts, the Gran Teatro Nacional (GTN) invites her to be part of its program, co-producing with Olga her recital Café Concierto desde Casa 2021. Previously, she was summoned by the Municipality of Lima and the GTN as a speaker and moderator on topics of our popular music.

Before returning to the United States, she was invited to sing the anthem of the United States for the Embassy in Peru and once in the United States, at the request of the producers of Tumba y Cajón in Miami, she offered words of overture celebrating Peru.

Olga’s Sound: Her songs refer to popular imagery, to the love for the characters of the city and the towns. Her style is rather intimate, heartfelt, poetry, history. She combines repertoire of other authors with her own, she mixes the traditional and the new. Several of the songs recorded were part of BBVA's initiative in Peru, to support national music, with Pelo Madueño as curator. The World Music Network label in London included her as the only independent producer on their compilation "Rough Guide of Afro Peru".

Official recognition of the Institute of Ethnomusicology of the PUCP as a woman and her contributions to national music. 2019

Official recognition from the José María Arguedas National School of Folklore for his contributions to the tondero. 2019

In-person and virtual presentations and interviews:

Noches de Luna, Willax Television Lima Peru. 2021

Amauri Perez Youtube, Lima Peru.

Text and voiceover of the presentation at the Peruvian show Tumba y Cajón, Miami Fl. USA March 2022

Interpreter of the anthem of the United States of America, U.S. Embassy Peru 2021. Olga Milla, Café Concert from Home, Virtual Concert, Gran Teatro Nacional Lima Peru, 2021

Participant in the documentary "Rhythmic Spoons" by filmmakers Rafael Arévalo and Tilsa Otta. Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of Peru, 2020

Moderator Virtual Conversation "The New Voices of Criollismo" Problems of young people in our music. Municipality of Lima, Peru October 30, 2020

Speaker Virtual conversation "On the Other Side of the Bridge to the Alameda", on the work of Chabuca Granda for its Centennial. Gran Teatro Nacional del Perú, September 26, 2020 Guest singer-songwriter Virtual concert by the Latin singer-songwriter conglomerate Dle Cuerda. April 2020

Participating singer-songwriter "Latinoamérica canta al Perú" Video July 2020.

Peruvian Repercussion One-man concert. Great Public Library of Lima, 2019

Kuyayky in Concert. Guest author. Convent of Santo Domingo, Lima Peru, 2019 Repercussion, One-man concert, CSMC Breña Lima, 2019

The Album of the Amulets, ICPNA one-man concert by Miralfores. Lima Peru, May 2018 Participant Guitar recital by maestro Rolando Carrasco Segovia. ICPNA, Lima, Peru, December 5, 2017. Guest performer Recital by the flamenco maestro Hernán Romero., Auditorio Español. Lima, November 24, 2017

Music of the Coast of Peru, one-man recital. Café Rilke Lima and Jazz Zone, August-November 2017

Conversation with the Folklore group of the Garcilaso de la Vega University, Lima, November 2017

Speaker at the VIII Conversatorio de Tondero, Lima, August 2017

El Calor del Norte, Personal recital dedicated to the immigrant, ICPNA Miraflores, 2017 Singer-songwriter Invited to close the discussion on Marinera, Municipality of Pueblo Libre, Lima, December 2016

Exhibitor and Singer "Trova Criolla" at the Living Heritage Festival, Riva Agüero Institute Lima, Peru November 2016

Guest in "Matilde Peña Teatro", by the young director Rodrigo Benza. 2016 Of Love and other things. Invited by the national actress Regina Alcóver. Barranco Station, Lima. March 2016

Lyricist for the animated documentary Imilla, APUS producciones, Lima. April 2016. Production conditions of the tondero Ponente Municipality of Pueblo Libre, Lima September 2016

La Patrona, tiempo de rosas en Lima, One-woman recital of songs inspired by iconic women such as Santa Rosa de Lima and Micaela Bastidas, CSCM Breña 2016

Canto a Lima, a duet with the jazz pianist Ania Paz. British CC. Lima 2015

Participant DVD 'Vigente' USMP, where she reflects on the validity and future of Creole music. Lima 2015

Invited to ADU Proyecto Universal by Antonio Vílchez, presentations in Arequipa and Lima, 2015

Tribute to Chabuca Granda. Summoned by Willy Terry and Lucy Avilés. Rímac Auditorium, Lima Peru, 2014

Hilvanes, One-man Recital, CSCM Breña Lima 2014

"Let's Talk About Music" speaker convened by Rafael Sta. Cruz, Cultural Center of Spain. Lima 2014 Singer. One-person recital for music students. PUCP School of Music, Chorrillos. Lima.2013

Tanta Veces Mercedes (Tribute to Mercedes Sosa, whom she interviewed) She shares the stage with Luz María Carriquiry and Fabiola Bernardo) Teatrín El Olivar Sn. Isidro. Lima, June 2013.

I Great Women's Meeting of Peruvian Music Guest performer of Ambiente Criollo at the Yuyachkani venue, Lima, 2013

4 Singer-songwriters. Participating author. Dai Hall Auditorium of the Peruvian Japanese Cultural Center Lima, 2013

Peruvian woman. Singer-songwriters convened by anthropologist Chalena Vásquez. Museum of History, Anthropology and Archaeology of Peru. Lima, 2012

Tribute to radio producer Pocho Ugarte, Guest Interpreter Congress of the Republic of Peru. Lima, 2011

400 Years 400 Souls for the 400 years Manager, presenter. Commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Los Comentarios Reales, highlighting the immigrant figure of the Inka Garcilaso in the Texan educational system. Dallas International Book Fair. Sponsored by the Consulate of Peru. Texas, USA 2009

Hispano-American Movement Music and Literature Participating singer-songwriter. Dallas, USA 2006-2010

Meeting of Peruvian Singer-Songwriters. Participating singer-songwriter. Cultural Center of Spain. Lima, 2005

Tribute to the Mestizo Music of Peru Manager and performer. Homage to the ethnomusicologists José María Arguedas and José Durand Flores. She brought teachers Jaime Guardia and Máximo Damián to the United States for the first time. They join the masters Carlos Hayre, Oscar Stagnaro, Edmundo Vargas and Masters of Peru Negro. Americas Society NY USA. Sponsored by the Consulate of Peru in NY. 1999

Song and Dance, guest performer. Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, United Nations, New York, USA July 1995

Singing and performing her songs are: Antonio Vílchez (dancer and zapateador), Grupo Grela, (Argentina,) Rafael Delgado (cellist,) Ambiente Criollo (female group,) Otis Rodríguez (dancer), Miryam Quiñones, Ketty Villaverde, Victoria Villalobos, Pilar de la Hoz, Sandra Peralta, (Argentina), Mariella Kohn, Patricia Saravia, Gisella Altuna, Kuyayky group (USA), María Márquez in the USA and a growing number of young performers in song and dance.

References

Escuela Nacional de Folklore José María Arguedas Instituto de Etnomusicología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú Ministerio de Cultura del Perú