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AnnaMaria brings Spanish culture to Lakeland

Student Life - posted on 9/25/2006

AnnaMaria - musician, singer, scholar and champion of the history of Spanish culture - will spend a day at Lakeland College on Tuesday, Oct. 3, culminating with a performance as part of the Krueger Fine Arts Series.

She will first give a talk as part of Lakeland's Lecture Series at 11 a.m. in the Bradley Fine Arts Building. Her lecture is free and open to the public.

AnnaMaria's background puts her in a unique position to speak and perform in the college setting, especially for the college age group. Students are her peers, and she speaks to them as such. Her Latin temperament never to be squelched, her performances and lectures are not dryly academic but are instead highly dramatic, deeply engaging and imbued with all the excitement of the Spanish guitar and the sensuality of the mezzo-soprano voice.

She will perform again in the Bradley at 7:30 p.m. as part of the KFAS. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for non-Lakeland students.

AnnaMaria identifies herself first as a musician. As a classical and flamenco guitarist, her style speaks of her proud heritage as an 18th-generation Santa Fean, a link to the world's best-preserved enclave of Spanish colonial culture. As a singer, her voice reveals all the warmth of her Mediterranean ancestry. Her talent has brought her concert and recital engagements worldwide, but pursuing this goal took her on a most unusual and remarkable path.

At 13, AnnaMaria completed high school in order to begin a professional career with the guitar. She recorded her first album at 15 and began her own label, Musica Mundial Productions. The success of that first album both launched her career and brought national recognition of her entrepreneurial creativity.

When AnnaMaria's first CD was featured on QVC, it met with astounding sales, but more importantly, the exposure introduced AnnaMaria to an audience much wider than her native Santa Fe. It was at that point that her national and international performance schedule truly began to soar.

Some of the appearances she is most proud of were a recital at the Kennedy Center, performances for the Prince of Spain and numerous concerts with full orchestra of her favorite work, Rodrigo's profoundly moving Concierto de Aranjuez. Many albums have since been produced by AnnaMaria on Musica Mundial Productions and other labels.

Success with the guitar however, was not AnnaMaria's only musical goal. With the same determination, AnnaMaria began to develop her voice as an equally important instrument. Perhaps early experiences at the Santa Fe Opera or her half-Sicilian genes instilled her deep love of opera, and her vocal performances, whether accompanied by anything from her own guitar to full orchestra, have met with the greatest response.

AnnaMaria possessed a profound sense of responsibility to continue her education, especially as it related to the culture and music she so loved. While maintaining her performance and production schedule, she completed her bachelor's degree summa cum laude at St. Mary's College of California at 18. At 20, she completed her master's at St. John's College in Santa Fe. These philosophy/theology-oriented liberal arts degrees were a step toward her real research interest.

Before the age of 25, AnnaMaria completed her doctoral dissertation at the University of Notre Dame. Her doctorate was awarded in theology with an emphasis in Latino studies.

For more information about AnnaMaria, her work and her recordings, visit her website at www.annamaria.ws.