Lucia Mier y Teran Romero has recently been awarded a competitive scholarship from CONACYT (National Council for science and technology) and FONCA (National Trust of Arts and Culture) for Master and PhD studies abroad. Both organizations are based in Mexico, which is her home country. The scholarship covers her living expenses, health insurance, and part of her tuition.
Mier y Teran Romero studied classical singing, and after joining an opera-clown show realized that singing in traditional opera houses was not the career direction she ultimately wanted.
States Mier y Teran Romero: “In Mexico, popular traditional music is integrated into everyday life. Be it a wedding or a neighborhood festival, a national holiday or an annual parade in a small town in the sierra, the occasion will always include music and theater of some sort. However, during my musical education in Mexico City, I became aware of the enormous gap that exists between people and “classical” music. Concert music has been sadly relegated to places that are, for various reasons not always accessible to everyone. In these spaces, music is guarded as a museum piece. Because of this and the few of opportunities available in my country to perform in an opera, I joined an ongoing opera-clown project in 2009. By using puppets and a red nose we are able to explain comic opera and operetta pieces and liberate music from the formality and sobriety normally attributed to ‘classical music’ and opera.” (Click here to watch Mier y Teran Romero perform)
She then discovered baroque music and found it much more interesting than nineteenth century opera. As an undergraduate, she studied Mexican Viceregal Music (music from the colonial era), but currently she is interested in doing something inventive that has much more meaning to society today. She has contacted Ellen Hargis, a professional early and baroque singer based in Chicago, and will likely use some of her scholarship to take lessons with her and continue her formation as a singer.
A warm congratulations to Lucia Mier y Teran Romero for her scholarship and innovative work!
