Cecilia Barraza turns 70: her beginnings in ‘Springboard to Fame’, the support of Alicia Maguiña and a retirement in style

Cecilia Barraza was born on November 5, 1952 in Lima surrounded by criollismo. In the Barraza Hora home he used to dance and sing to the rhythm of Jesus Vasquez Y Philip Pinglo Alva. Her parents Julia Hora and Carlos Barraza were great promoters of their children’s artistic talents. It was her mother who encouraged them to form the ‘Clan Barraza’, a family show that combined singing, comedy and declamation.

His artistic career began in 1971 when he won a singing contest on Augusto Ferrando’s program ‘Trampolín a la Fama’. For the connoisseurs of the time, Cecilia Barraza was the “new path, the novel pioneering expression of a youth that expresses its feelings towards the Peruvian song”.

“It was Mrs. Alicia Maginawho trusted me and endorsed it Chabuca Grande, when they gave me their songs. And, not only here but in Mexico, I achieved success, which I had not imagined, in such a short time, and in places like the Municipal, when the Peruvian Song Festival, or in Mexico, representing our country in ‘Vale a Peru’, as one of the elements that was chosen for that important international tour”declared Cecilia Barraza that year.

“I think I live a dream. And a very fast dream. Look at tours, recordings, albums, television, commitments abroad, and the knowledge that our youth already has a way of expressing, also our music, but in a way that I hope will show every day more to many that we feel it and I think that like me they get an opportunity”he added at that time to the journalist of the dean newspaper.

The song that would mark his career would be ‘Bull Kill’: “In 1972 I recorded the Toro Mata, which was the one that gave me the most financial and artistic satisfaction. At that time only the Vásquez, Victoria and Nicomedes Santa Cruz, that is black people, made this music. In that sense, I did pioneering work because from then on black music sung by whites began to spread.”.

In her 48 years of artistic career, Cecilia Barraza filled theaters in Peru and abroad. Television was not elusive to her, since she was the host of the program ‘Mediodía Criollo’ between 2001 and 2006. Her playfulness and her good humor made her viewers’ lunch hour happy. Later, she hosted the programs “Lo Nuestro”, “Peruvian Heart” and “Cántame tu vida”. In the latter, she made 35 programs, including one dedicated to her mentor, the great Alicia Maguiña.

On the day of the 2019 Criolla Song, Cecilia Barraza offered a first-class show as she promised her followers when she announced her unexpected retirement weeks before. Her last concert was titled with one of the phrases from a song by Andrés Soto: ‘I would like to be like time, which is not afraid of the hours…’

That night his fans filled the Grand National Theater. Between tonderos, vouchers, sailors and jarana mixes, Cecilia Barraza reviewed her successful career. The great Regina Alcoverthe composers José Escajadillo and Pepe Villalobos and the singer Pamela Abanto accompanied the singer on stage.