WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT JUANITA:
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT
“THE MARIACHI VOICE”
“THE MARIACHI VOICE”
(Oxford University Press, 2024)
Amazon Reviews
2024 Photo Courtesy of Katya Roemer
Press Release
Contact: Ginny Morgan (510) 499-2222
Email: operachipublicity@yahoo.com
ANNOUNCING THE RELEASE OF THE MARIACHI VOICE, AN OXFORD PUBLICATION BY OPERACHI SONGSTRESS DR. JUANITA ULLOA.
Written by SINGER/PROFESSOR OF VOICE, AND creator of the “Operachi” style, a crossover style between classical and Mariachi training.
STOCKTON, CA. November 22, 2024. Operachi songstress and scholar Dr. Juanita Ulloa announces the release of her book, The Mariachi Voice, published by Oxford University Press.
What are They saying about The Mariachi Voice?
The Mariachi Voice is a compendium and the first book of its kind. Dr. Juanita Ulloa originally wrote the book to provide more women access to some of the vocal training specific to mariachi that she could never find. It turned into a much bigger project that took eight years. Along the way, she discovered the world’s first three-act ranchera opera MARIACHE (ca. 1928) by Antonio Gomezanda, which to date, has never been performed, along with other Mexican song gems. In The Mariachi Voice the songstress offers over 400 pages of vocal insights, also including artist interviews with award winning mariachi voice artists including one of her idols, Linda Ronstadt and two grandchildren of Jorge Negrete who are professional singers themselves.
What is mariachi or ranchera song? It is a folk tradition dating back to the 1830s along the West Coast of Mexico up to San Francisco, California (then part of Mexico). Mariachi is immediately recognizable through powerful, expressive singers dressed in black holding big sombreros. Mariachi repertoire is recognized worldwide by UNESCO as a symbol of Mexico, and its singing style and song canon is a vibrant and essential part of the identity of many in the USA’s Hispanic population of over 41 million native Spanish speakers, not to mention its popularity in 26 Spanish speaking countries around the globe.
The Mariachi Voice offers an informative and practical resource for aspiring and professional singers, mariachi directors, voice professors, historians, and all fans of Mexico and Mariachi who want to immerse themselves in this fascinating and powerful world that produces a rich vocal sound rivaling any opera stage.
Singers learn about performing with costumes authentic to each region in Mexico, stage make-up, how to read music bilingually and in both solfege and letter-based notation, 20 songs with a chapter on Mexican Spanish Diction, and proper use of the microphone and the stage for interpretation. For those more advanced, Dr. Ulloa analyzes similarities and differences between classical and Mariachi voice training and singing styles. Classroom-tested lesson plans are provided for mariachi voice technique and history. Ulloa especially champions how to train female mariachi singers for long careers and recognizes the unsung contributions of many female singers and songwriters, alongside the men. This is a departure from traditional mariachi, originally a male-based tradition that, even today, prefers to maintain all male versus mixed mariachi ensembles, although many all-female groups have emerged. Luckily, both female and male soloists have abound and Dr. Ulloa brings the conditions for female singers and songwriters to light.
THE MARIACHI VOICE (ISBN-10-0190846240, ISBN-13-978-0190846244) hardback is $99.00 and paperback is $34.95 (347pages). An electronic version of the book will be soon announced.
Amazon at https://amazon.com/Mariachi-Voice-Juanita-Ulloa/dp/0190846232 or from
Oxford University Press at https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-mariachi-voice-9780190846237?q=ULLOA&lang=en&cc=us.
About Dr. Juanita Ulloa:
The Operachi songstress has been reviewed alongside Santana as “an artist in a niche of her own” by Hispanic Magazine.
Dr. Juanita Ulloa is an Operachi songstress, Professor of Voice, ADDY Award-Winning voice-over actress, scholar, author, pianist and songwriter. She has offered solo concerts in Spain, Latin America, and the United States for over three decades. Juanita Ulloa highlights the beauty, diversity, and power of Mexican and Latin American vocal traditions, of which she has unparalleled knowledge. She champions songs and lyrics by women and features this message through national and international concerts. She earned the title of Musical Ambassador representing Mexico at Mexican Consulate events. She has appeared as a soloist at international Olympic and major stadiums, arts centers, festivals, adjudication for competitions, concerts, master classes and Latin Pops symphonies.
Dr. Ulloa is a six-time vocal and song writing winner of Festival de la canciόn latinamericana, has 7 CDs of award-winning mariachi and Latin American song, and has won classical National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competitions in Colorado and Wyoming. In 2020, she introduced mariachi singing as a commercial vocal category at two chapters for the NATS in Northern California and Cal-Western Regional NATS. She has inspired many students to compete and win at local and regional levels in NATS, as National Champions of Mariachi Extravaganza, American Idol, and the White House. As a scholar she has presented on mariachi singers at national NATS conferences since 2010. Dr. Ulloa has served on the Grammy board and is currently on the Advisory Board and Diversity committee for the San Francisco Chapter of NATS. Ms. Ulloa continues her own longtime vocal training with Jane Randolph, with past work on zarzuela in Madrid with Ana Maria de Iriarte and Spanish art song work in France with Dalton Baldwin.
Raised in Mexico City, Panama, and Spain, she calls Mexico home, with an alternate base in California. Dr. Ulloa has two award-winning mariachi/bolero recordings with Mujeres & Mariachi and Canta mi son!mariachi for families. Canta conmigo is a separate five-CD series dedicated to bilingual topics for children (some with matching songbooks) available at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/5cMzzdABemSUXCOAKDKUoRand CDBaby.com. Her discs have won regional Parent’s Council, Disney, NAPPA, and Parent’s Choice awards. She edited and published 3 volumes of Mexican art song and rancheras by nationalist Antonio Gomezanda as sheet music, all available at Classical Vocal Reprints at www.classicalvocalrep.com. Dr. Ulloa is the first to publish on the mariachi voice in the popular book series, So You Want to Sing World Music: A Guide for Performers in 2019, sponsored by National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) available at https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538112281/So-You-Want-to-Sing-World-Music-A-Guide-for-Performers .
Dr. Ulloa holds music degrees from Yale University, UC Berkeley and a Doctorate in Vocal Performance and Hispanic Studies from the University of Northern Colorado. She is certified in the three levels of Somatic Voicework for commercial singing, specializing in Mexican and Latin American song, and is a court certified Spanish linguist. The songstress has adjudicated voice and mariachi at national festivals and has served on music faculties at University of Texas at El Paso, Texas State University, Northwest Vista College, and Austin Community College, and piano accompaniment at University of Texas in San Antonio. Dr. Ulloa is a Professor of Voice at Laney Community College and San Joaquin Delta Community College in Northern California and maintains a vibrant national private voice studio (in person/online), while touring offering master classes, concerts, and workshops.
Sign up at www.juanitamusic.com; email Operachipublicity@gmail.com.
Her book, The Mariachi Voice published by Oxford University Press is now available through Oxford University Press, Amazon, and other locations where quality books are sold.
Ginny Morgan, Publicist for Dr. Juanita Ulloa
Email: operachipublicity@yahoo.com
Telephone: (510) 499-2222
www.juanitamusic.com FB: Ulloa.juanita.37
Vocal Technique, 20 Teaching Songs, and Voice History from
Dr. Juanita Ulloa’s new book
THE MARIACHI VOICE
(Oxford University Press)
Listen to Juanita Ulloa on Youtube or buy her CDs: www.juanitamusic.com
Contact: Operachipublicity@yahoo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juanita.ulloa.37/
Purchase THE MARIACHI VOICE:
Oxford University Press
https://global.oup.com/ushe/disciplines/music/applied-music-courses/voice/?cc=us&lang=en&
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Mariachi-Voice-Juanita-Ulloa/dp/0190846232
Purchase Mexican art song and Rancheras as Sheet Music Edited and Published by Dr. Juanita Ulloa in store!
Order THE MARIACHI VOICE:
Amazon
Welcome to the Voice Studio
of Dr. Juanita Ulloa
Dr. Juanita Ulloa warmly welcomes you to her Private Voice Studio. ¡Bienvenidos!
Juanita’s solo singers have been called into American Idol, the White House, the US Army, Mexican folkloric events, and have been solo finalists and winners at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Festivals (NATS), as well as the Mariachi Extravaganza Solo Voice Competition. We are currently based in both Ajijic, Jalisco in Mexico as well as Northern California. Our active presence continues to grow online and has spread our reach nationally and internationally. Our studio takes on inspired and dedicated aspiring singers of many styles that are focused. Our mission is to enrich and transform people’s voices by accessing healthy breathing, awareness of support as the air itself in our lungs, clear diction with awareness of vowels, and beautiful singing, while empowering the inner spirit and mind-body connection. These pedagogical concepts are applied to each singer’s desired field of vocal repertoire after a foundation is established. While our specialty is Latin American and mariachi styles, we have singers performing musical theatre, country, rock, religious and other kinds of song as well. We also train actors, speakers, interpreters, lawyers and judges.
Dr. Ulloa has over 30 years of experience training primarily singers, but also professors, linguists, judges, lawyers, instrumental musicians, and voice-over actors at many levels. Many are public figures, national competition winners and finalists; others are teachers and trial lawyers honing their vocal tone, breathing, and presentation skills. Some focus on diction and projection, others on national competition stature. She also welcomes the freshness of beginning students. Her current students at range from 15 to 82 years old.
Juanita Ulloa holds a D.A. in Vocal Performance & Pedagogy with secondary area in Hispanic Studies. She trains singers in many global vocal styles along with classical singing. Dr. Ulloa is a pioneer of the Operachi vocal style for women and has a solo career as an international performer in the USA and many Hispanic countries, with an opera background. She has recorded 7 prize winning CDs and 5 songbooks championing mariachi, boleros, women and bilingual songs for children. She was raised primarily in Mexico City but also in Madrid, Spain and Panama and did her university and beyond degrees in the USA. Her music degrees are from Yale University, UC Berkeley, and the University of No. Colorado.
Format- She teaches 1 hour or 30-minute lessons. For budget and more details please email juanitavoicetrainer@gmail.com
Students may study privately and/or consider workshop formats through zoom and in person. All are eligible for to attend or perform in the monthly studio night performance online. Students may drop in for individual lessons without a permanent time slot or sign up for weekly lessons with an ongoing commitment and regular monthly tuition due on the first day of each month.
Each private student receives one 50-minute lesson
(either on Zoom or in person) at the same time per week.
Before, during, and in between lessons, Dr. Ulloa maps out a strategy with a teaching plan for your voice. She draws on repertoire and varied methodological concepts to help the student achieve consistent vocal progress. She is constantly fine tuning her approach for the best development of each student and is infamous for dreaming about her students in her zeal to constantly seek for new ways to help them reach higher levels of singing. Dr. Ulloa also activates her career consulting and contacts for highly prepared students for local, national, and regional auditions and competitions. Budding professionals also learn how to make song videos, manage bands, press releases, publicity and produce performances or hire Dr. Ulloa for recording production. Her students have consistently won national voice competitions and Dr. Ulloa has been sought out by AGT, American Idol, The Voice, Mariachi Extravaganza, NATS and other competition organizers to submit. This includes possible recommendation letters, concerts, demo tapes, and videos.
Student Expectations-
- Find a private and quiet place to practice at least 30-60 minutes a day, 5 days a week. By quiet, we mean a spot where no TV or computer can be heard nearby, nor people’s voices. Younger students may begin at 20-30 minutes per day active singing and add in extra time for listening to songs on You tube. Choose a fixed practice time or two per day, e.g. two 30-minute sessions. The phone must be turned off, no email, no parent interruptions, etc. This is your special exploration time for you which all must respect.
- Access on online Youtube music and resources for accompaniment tracks, sheet music, history, and commercials.
- Internet Access to Zoom, a microphone, mic stand, a keyboard (minimum 66 keys) or instrument to play out melodies.
- Motivation- Keep a steady pace and pick it up again even when you miss a day. Inspiration comes with discipline!
Tuition -Budding Singer Plan – 50-minute lessons
This usually covers 4 private voice lessons, one group studio performance (most months of the year), email access to Dr. Ulloa for questions, and her own private research time to best guide your vocal transformation. Dr. Ulloa does not teach on the 5th week during longer months. Cancellations or changes within 48 hours of the lesson are not refundable.
Concerts / Speaking Engagements
Juanita’s Mexican/Latin American/Classical and mariachi song concerts. Accompaniment with guitarist, mariachi ensemble, group, and/or Juanita solo piano/vocal. Speaking engagements begin and end with her singing original songs from THE MARIACHI VOICE featuring her Operachi style at the piano.
Masterclasses / Workshops
Perfect for programs and universities. Mariachi or Latin American classical and folk repertoires, diction in Spanish, song history, mariachi technique, repertoire, and style. She teaches songs from the piano or with a guitarist or mariachi if available. Artist residencies are also available, short- or long-term.
October 2024 SFBAC NATS Newsletter link
Check out Juanita presenting a NATS Master Class in Northern California:
Time Allotments for Presentations
Concerts are two 45-minute sets or one set lasting 1 hour and 10 minutes. Masterclasses may last 1.5-2.5 hours with 10-minute breaks every 30-40 minutes. Speaking engagements and lectures/recitals are 1-1.5 hours. These times may be modified upon previous special requests.
Inquire about booking a single event or reduction for two or more events at a similar location nearby within 72 hours.
For more information or specific assistance, please email Ginny Morgan, publicist, at operachipublicity@yahoo.com or juanitavoicetrainer@gmail.com or call (510) 499-2222.
