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"She is something of an ambassador for Latin-American songs, regularly presenting this repertoire in recitals and concert-lectures around the world… she has amassed a collection of scores for some 2,500 songs from eighteen countries, a number that amazes even those of us who have studied Latin-American art songs for some time.“

Dr. Jonathan Kulp – Latin American Music Review / December 2006

Colombian soprano Patricia Caicedo is recognized as a leading interpreter of the Latin American and Spanish lieder repertory and has sung in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Puerto Rico and Latin America to public and critical acclaim.

Her well-received CDs include: A mi ciudad Nativa – To My Native City (Mundo Arts, 2005), Lied: Art songs of Latin America (Albert Moraleda, 2001) and La Felicidad, a collection of works by Colombian composer Jorge Olaya Muñoz, recorded with the Banda Sinfónica Santafé de Bogotá in 1997.

Ms. Caicedo has earned highest honors in numerous festivals and competitions, including a prize awarded by Sony Music for best classical soloist in 1998 in Colombia and first prize in the “Concurso Nacional del Bambuco” competition, also in Colombia, in 1993.

Ms. Caicedo made her professional debut in 1993 when, as a part of the International Festival of Classical Music, she was a soloist in Gabriel Faure´s Requiem, accompanied by the Tolima Symphony Orchestra. Since then she has been a soloist in J.C. De Arriaga´s Stabat Mater, G.B. Pergolessi´s Stabat Mater and given recitals all around the world.

She had debuted many works by some of the most important living composers of Latin America. She is frequently invited to contemporary music festivals where she performs new works. Many of the songs that she had debuted had been dedicated to her.

Born in Ibagué, Colombia, Ms. Caicedo began studying piano, music theory, and voice as a child at the Tolima music conservatory; then continued with private instructors in Bogotá. After completing medical studies in Bogotá, she resumed her voice studies and has since worked with Rocío Rios, Alfredo Krauss, Maya Maiska and Gilberto Escobar.

In addition to her busy performing schedule, Ms. Caicedo is an expert in the history and musical interpretation of the Latin American and Spanish art song. A popular teacher as well as performer, Ms. Caicedo regularly gives concert-lectures, master classes, and serves as Artist-in-Residence at leading universities in the United States and as a Cultural Ambassador for the Colombian Diplomatic Corps. She had been a guest teacher as such institutions as New York University, Columbia University, University of Texas at Austin, University of South Florida, New Mexico State University, University of Indianapolis, Loyola University, Texas Christian University, Bringham Young University, Conservatorio de Granada (Spain), Universidad de Cádiz (Spain) and Universidad Industrial de Santander (Colombia), among many others institutions.

Her book The Latin American Art Song: A Critical Anthology and Interpretative Resource for Singers (Edicions Tritó, 2005) is a reference book in the field.

Dr. Caicedo is the founder and artistic director of the Barcelona Festival of Song a summer course and a concert series dedicated to the study of the history and interpretation of the Latin American and Spanish Art Song.

Her commitments for the season 2007 - 2008 include concerts and master classes in Spain, Holland, USA, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador and Bermuda.

History

Soprano Patricia Caicedo’s main objective is making the Latin American art song repertory known worldwide.

Her interest in this repertory started in her native Colombia when her first voice teacher, soprano Rocío Ríos, taught her the works of Colombian and Argentine composers telling her that singers should sing in their own language at the beginning of their training.

Patricia later became interested in this repertory with which she feels a strong identification a result of performing popular songs, the Latin American folklore repertory, and especially songs from the Colombian Andes in her childhood and adolescence.

She subsequently began to look for art songs by Latin American composers but ran into many obstacles, the first of which was the fact that these songs could not be found in music stores.

Over time Patricia discovered that these songs were often not published or that they had been published in the 1930s and 1940s but were now out of print which made them especially difficult to find.

At the same time, Patricia began to include these songs in her concert programs and to propose programs made up exclusively of this repertory. However, she encountered resistance from programmers some of whom suggested that she sing traditional lied by composers such as Schubert, Schumann, and others. It seemed like Latin American art songs were not considered to be at the same level as traditional lieder.

Patricia then began her search for songs in family records, libraries of different countries and contacting composers or their descendants directly. She is driven by the desire to make the repertory known and to help it achieve its rightful place in the international context.

To achieve this goal it was not sufficient to perform these songs in concert. It was necessary to break the vicious circle of the songs’ not being known in various places:

1. Performing the songs in concert halls.

2. Recording

3. Publishing (sheet music and academic articles on the subject)

4. Teaching (Master Classes and individual students)

5. Promoting composers and performers of this repertory

Today Patricia is one of the most recognized performers and promoters of this repertory and is active international concert artist. She is frequently invited to give Master Classes and lectures at universities in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. She has relationships with some of the most important living composers of Latin America and has access to papers and families of deceased Latin-American composers. Her personal library includes more than 2500 songs by Latin American and Spanish composers.

Caicedo has been selected for inclusion in the year 2008 edition Who's Who in America, published in January 2008. Published by Marquis Who's Who is the leading biographical reference publisher of the highest achievers and contributors from across the country and around the world.

The inclusion of Ms. Caicedo represents a tribute to her discipline and hard work as an advocate of the Latin American and Spanish Music.