Education
Masters of Arts in Vocal Performance – Queens College, New York City
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drums) – Long Island University in New York
Jazz Diploma – Mannes College of Music, New York C ity
North Indian Classical Music with (bansuri & vocals)
North Indian Classical Music Pargat Singh (vocals)
Special Honors
A Grant from the American Embassy for Corina Bartra & Azu to perform in Peru.
A Grant from the Carnegie Foundation to perform in public libraries throughout New York City
Special guest performer for the Peruvian Ambassador to United Nations
Dean’s Listed (Mannes College) and Honors Graduate (L.I. University)
A Music Performance Grant from the Queen’s Council of the Arts Foundation.
Biography
A sophisticated jazz and contemporary world singer from Peru? -Yes, Peru. In the last 100 years jazz has spread to every section of the globe, bringing forth fine Latin jazz musicians from New York, Cuba and Brazil. And if you haven’t already heard about her, Corina Bartra from Peru.
Corina was the first vocalist to blend Afro Peruvian and criolla music & Jazz. She also pioneered subtle and exciting instrumental textures in her compositions and her arrangements. She writes extensive intros, interludes, and solos filled with inventive rhythms and beautiful harmonies. She also guides her musicians to do so. With this approach, she adds an instrumental section to her unique & historic projects.
Corina Bartra has degrees in jazz percussion from (name schools) and a Master in vocal performance. Like so many jazz masters before her, Corina Bartra resides in the New York area (when she is not in Peru) where she not only plays but can study the works of all those artists who came before her, building the international sound of jazz to what it is today. And making her award – Corina was the recipient of the prestigious Queens Council on the Arts award in 2008. Her vocal winner Bambu Sun stand apart from the crowd. Her music has frequent airplay nationwide and topped the charts in some radio stations. She also got ear play in Europe and Peru were she is an influential artist.
In her new BAMBU SUN she once again dives into the Afro Peruvian sonorities and other Latin undercurrents. She has pioneered a ground-breaking fusion of jazz and afro Latin music with her releases: CORINA BARTRA QUARTET, Son Zumbon, and Travelog, when for the first time one could hear the incorporation of the cajon (Peruvian percussive box) and the festejo groove blended with jazz.
PROJECTS
Corina Bartra & the Afro Peruvian Jazz Orchestra
Corina Bartra has turned to the big band sound to articulate her spacious musical vision. The resulting CD (Cielo Sandunguero- Sandunguero Sky) and related performances marry the exquisite rhythms of Afro-Peruvian jazz with those of Afro-American jazz. Her vibrant ensemble blurs boundaries and modalities and swings with the joy of musical collaboration. Voices shout and chant in the background, and rambunctious horns celebrate life lived to the fullest. Bartra also reaches for some new rhythms from Brazil and Cuba. The orchestra has performed at the Queens Theater in the Park festival and the Dizzy Gillespie Auditorium in NYC and the Jazz Zone in Lima, Peru. The lively repertoire includes originals and covers such as No valentin and Night & Day.
Corina Bartra Azu Project
This program and related CD, Afro Peruvian Jazz Celebration, represents a joyous combination of the indigenous music of her Bartra’s native Peru and her adopted New York City. Her band (Septet) for this project includes long time collaborators and friends from Peru and the States. This CD and program combine Afro-Peruvian rhythms and jazz music from North and South America. Tunes include originals and covers with lyrics sung in Spanish and English. Corina Bartra sings. Hear the driving rhythms of South American music—the lando, the festejo, and the baiao—linked with ballads and standards of American jazz. Revel in the Peruvian moment with incessantly swinging tunes like “No Valentin” and “Chacombo.” Then switch to jazz standard like “Stella by Starlight” or Bartra originals, “You Took Me by Surprise” and “I Won’t Regret a Moment.” The band features such world-class musicians (from Peru and New York) as pianist Cliff Korman, drummer Vince Cherico, and Perico Diaz on cajon. Their virtuosity and enthusiasm turn this spectacular music into a celebration of life, love and eternal rhythm
This program has performed at Kunstfabrik in Berlin, Germany, Goldbeck Hous in Hamburg, Saint German de Press in Paris, France, Municipal Theater in Cuzco, Peru (as recipient of an American Embassy Grant) and at the Jazz Zone in Lima. It was also presented at Millenium Stage in Washington, D.C, Town Hall in Flushing, New York and at Flushing Library in Queens as recipient of and award from the Queens Council of the Arts.
Corina Bartra Sextet
The sextet plays Afro-Peruvian Jazz with Pan-American influences such as samba, reggae and pop. This program of originals and covers is delivered with passion and assuredness by a strong ensemble of musicians. The related CD entitled Son Zumbon highlights Bartra’s talents as a vocalist and stylist and her strong delivery seems effortless and pure. This music flies right through the head, down through the heart and lifts the spirit. The sextet has performed at Capitol Jazz Festival in Missouri, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and the Jazz Zone and Regatas Club in Lima, Peru. In New York, the sextet has been presented at the Woman in Jazz Festival, Town Hall, Birdland and Dizzy Gillespie Auditorium.
Corina Bartra Quartet
This compact but potent ensemble delivers Afro Peruvian and Pan American music and arrangements of classic jazz. Repertoire includes Bartra originals and well-known covers. The quartet has performed at Why not Jazz, the Sureando Festival in NY and the Cave in Berlin, Germany.
