Inés María Bravo
Singer
Bio (Short version)
For Ines Maria Bravo singing is a special gift. She believes the voice is a musical instrument full of magical possibilities, capable of conveying a playful and intimate link between sound and emotion. Her sweet, velvety, lyrical soprano voice is bonded with her intuitive interpretive skills; that communicate her deep love for Latin American music, particularly boleros; as well as, for Venezuela and its traditional music. She has performed as soloist of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Venezuela, soloist and choir singer in the prestigious Orfeón Universitario of the Universidad Central de Venezuela UCV (1987-1999); toured extensively in Europe, Asia and the Americas; and recorded in six albums of Venezuelan folk music and boleros as soloist and choral singer. She has won different awards and recognitions throughout her artistic career. On June 2020, Inés Maria Bravo has released her album “Bésame Mucho” which is a tribute to women who were successful in this musical genre.
Bio (Large version)
For Ines Maria Bravo singing is a special gift. She believes that voice is a musical instrument full of magical possibilities, capable of conveying a playful and intimate link between sounds and emotions. Her sweet, velvety, lyrical soprano voice, bonded with her intuitive interpretive skills; that also communicates a deep love for Venezuela and its traditional music; as well as, for Latin American boleros.
She made her debut performance as a singer in a Christmas children’s choir at her hometown at the age of seven. Then, as member of the Carupano Atheneum Choir, Ines Maria came to the attention of one of the most important Venezuelan singers, Morella Muñoz, who urged her to join the foremost choir of her country, the University Orfeon of the Central University of Venezuela (OU-UCV), National Patrimony of Venezuela.
As a soprano of the OU-UCV for fourteen years, she sang under the direction of maestro Raúl Delgado Estévez. With this prestigious choir, she toured extensively in Europe, the Americas and Asia. In that period, Inés María refined her vocal technique under the tutelage of the renowned professors Siamora de Salamanqués, and Laura Alonzo; and consolidated her vision and understanding of Venezuelan and Latin American popular music.
As choral singer of OU-UCV, Ines Maria helped to win the Special Jury Prize in the International Choir Festival of Montreux, Switzerland, a world top choir competition; artistic group with which she also made recordings of great relevance to Venezuelan and Latin American choral music, highlighting the productions made in Tokyo-Japan with the record label JVC “Caribbean Polyphony” of the series World Sounds Special and the recordings with Venezuelan popular music groups “El Cuarteto” and “Estudiantina Universitaria”.
As soloist, Inés Maria Bravo has won different awards and recognitions throughout her artistic career. She was awarded with the Honorary Mayor of the City of Baton Rouge, Louisiana-US (1992); and won the First Place Prize for Stylized Voice and Absolute Winner at the La Panoja de Oro International Folk Festival Competition (2004), Second Place Stylized Voice of the El Silbón de Oro International Folk Music Competition (2004); First Place of the Urban Voice of the Central University of Venezuela (1991), First Place of the Traditional Voice of the Central University of Venezuela (1995), Second Place of the Traditional Voice of the National Festival of the University Voice of Venezuela (1995), Merit Award for her extraordinary contribution to the cultural development of the UCV and the Venezuelan Dental Association, among others.
Likewise, for four years Inés María sang as soloist in several recitals of Latin American music with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Venezuela. With the National Music Company of Venezuela, and under the direction of maestro Luis Miguel González, she made her debut with that orchestra in an homage to Venezuelan composer Otilio Galíndez (2009). Then, under the direction of maestro Pedro Mauricio Gonzalez sang in the National’s Boleros Week in an homage to Felipe Pirela (2011, 2012). Due to her performance on the National Bolero Week (2012), she was a featured singer in the album “Boleros para Enamorados”, a recompilation of live recordings released in 2013.
Living in the United States, she has sung as especial guest at the Festival of Latin American Music of the Christian University of Texas, in a recital at Tarrant County College Fort Worth-TX (2015); in several concerts in Houston-TX, as soloist of the Mistika Latin American Quartet of the BCDQ Cultural Foundation (2015-2017) and as volunteer of Tepuy Cultural Activities Houston-TX Venezuelan Community (2015-present); in a recital of Venezuelan music at the exhibition “Passages” of the visual artist Carolina Otero Pardo (2015); she was also a special guest at concerts by internationally renowned singer and actor Guillermo Dávila in Miami-FL (2016, 2018); participated as soloist in the recital Little Venice is Music with the renowned Orfeon San Juan Bautista at the Center for Puerto Rico (CPPR) of the Sila M. Calderón Foundation (2016); she was a special guest of the concerts in Houston of the Venezuelan folklorists Jesús, Brenda and Rubén Rengel with the international platform Guataca Nights and recitals at the First Baptist Church of Houston (2018). Due to his incredible vocal technique, she also trains artists to improve their vocal performance.
Finally, Ines Maria Bravo developed her artistic career along with a successful profession of Dentist, Oral Pathologist and university professor.
Fun Facts
- I love makeup! Doing my makeup is one of my anti-stress activities. I usually wear makeup even when I am working at home, so if someone comes to visit me, that person swears that I am ready to go out! But, I do it just because I enjoy it.
- Baking is my favorite hobby. I have even written my own recipes. In fact, my Passion Fruit Mousse is famous within my family and beloved friends. If you like passion fruit, you could be addicted to my mousse.
- While studying dentistry at the Central University of Venezuela, I made extra money as an embroiderer for one of the most famous fashion designers in the country: Jose Maria Almeida. If you see me wearing crystals, fashion patches, embroidery on jeans, or some outfit, it is most likely done by me. I am a craft lover!
- Serenade is a tradition in Venezuela, it is in my heart and soul, so I have given serenades ever since I remember. If I have a friend far from the city I live in, I’d usually give them a serenade over the phone
