Patricia Caicedo is a soprano and musicologist who has dedicated her career to expanding the canon of classical vocal music to include more composers from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. To encourage singers and teachers to learn more about this music, she created an annual global celebration called the International Day of Latin & Iberian Art Song.  It will take place on May 11 this year, and you are invited to be part of it as a performer or audience member.

Singers of all ages and levels can participate by uploading videos of themselves singing art songs in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, or languages of Latin America, including Indigenous languages. The submission deadline is May 3. Click this link to learn more and register. 

Everyone who participates will be eligible for special discounts on scores, books, and CDs purchased from MundoArts, a company that specializes in publishing hard-to-find music from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. 

A panel of expert judges will select 15 performers whose recordings will be featured in a global online concert on May 11 which will be broadcast on the Barcelona Festival of Song website, as well as on its Facebook page, and YouTube channel. Special recognition will be given to participants who perform songs in Portuguese, Catalan, and Indigenous languages, or songs composed by women. 

The top two participants will be awarded half-scholarships to the Barcelona Festival of Song, an intensive summer program designed for classical singers, pianists, and musicologists that will take place in Barcelona from July 3 – 12, 2025. The program focuses on the history and interpretation of Latin American and Iberian art song, offering an in-depth exploration of repertoire in Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan. It culminates in 2 public performances. 

More About Patricia Caicedo

Patricia Caicedo grew up in Colombia and as a young singer, she was frustrated that she could not find classical music in her native Spanish. She did not understand why the canon had so much music in Italian, French, German, and English, and not in the languages of Latin America.  Fortunately for all of us, she decided to do something about it. 

An inspiring powerhouse, Patricia Caicedo has led a crusade to discover, commission and publish classical vocal music in the languages of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. In addition to founding and directing the Barcelona Festival of Song, she has performed worldwide and released 11 albums.

She created MundoArts, a company that includes a music publishing house, a record label, and an online store. She has published numerous scholarly editions of scores and books, including The Latin American Art Song: Sounds of the Imagined Nations, the go-to history on its subject. She created the International Day of Iberian and Latin American Art Song, in memory of the great Colombian composer, Jaime León Ferro, who died on May 11, 2015.

A Champion of Women Composers & a Medical Doctor

Caicedo has been a great champion of women, and she has published two volumes of art songs by Iberian and Latin American women (Volume 1 and Volume 2 – also available as a bundle). You can also buy individual songs by women composers on the MundoArts website. 

Caicedo holds a Medical Doctor’s degree from the Escuela Colombiana de Medicina in addition to her Ph.D. in musicology from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. 

Her interdisciplinary training as a musician, musicologist, and physician and her interests in technology have led her to develop numerous creative projects and collaborations with artists and scientists worldwide. An example of this is her newest book: We are what we listen to: the impact of music on individual and social health,  which explores the connections between music and our physical, mental, and social health.