Leda Valladares

Leda Valladares - Topic

Leda Valladares was an Argentine singer, songwriter, musicologist, folklorist, and poet. Born in San Miguel de Tucumán in northern Argentina, she grew up surrounded by both classical European music and the folk music of the Amerindian people living in the area. From a young age she studied piano and in her teens began a band with her brother that explored folk music, jazz, and blues. She published works of poetry throughout her life. Although she began her university studies at the National University of Tucumán as an English major, after a year she changed course and studied philosophy and education, graduating in 1948. Her schooling was interrupted by a foray into the study of music at the Academy of Fine Art and in independent research among those who performed traditional folk music.
Upon graduation, Valladares taught briefly before moving to Paris in the early 1950s and forming a music duo with María Elena Walsh. They sang traditional Argentine folk music for four years in cafés and cabarets. They returned to Argentina after the 1956 Liberating Revolution had removed Juan Perón from office.