El cuatro de octubre/October 4th
Photo from cancioneros.com. Click HERE . ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Violeta Parra! (1917-1967) A Chilean composer, songwriter, artist, and folklorist who pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena , Parra had her life story told in the 2011 film Violeta se fue a los cielos (click HERE for the trailer). Parra was born in San Fabián de Alico, a small town in Southern Chile, one of nine children born to parents who were not wealthy but who stressed the importance of culture to their children (Parra's brother, Nicanor Parra, was a celebrated poet of the "anti-poetry" movement). When Parra's father died in 1929, she and her siblings had to work to help feed the family. She and several of her siblings were performing their music in nightclubs when she met Luis Cereceda in 1934. The two married in 1938 and had two children: Isabel (1939) and Ángel (1943). Cereceda was a strong communist and while with him Parra also became involved in politics. She also continued to sing. Par...