Loop, the second album by the Ecuadorian pianist Lyzbeth Badaraco, is dedicated to the memory of her mother and grandmother. “It’s a tribute to the Latin American woman,” says Badaraco of the album, which reflects the “sacrifice” of her mother and grandmother for raising her and her three brothers. Their mother encouraged them to study music, and as it turned out, all four brothers are musicians. Badaraco holds a degree in contemporary music from the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil (UCSG) and a master’s degree from the Conservatori Superior Liceu in Barcelona, Spain.
Pain, childhood and Latin American sounds form ‘Loop’ by composer Lyzbeth Badaraco
His first album, titled 93was released in 2018 and was accompanied by a documentary called 93: Stories told through a piano, which tells the process of burning the disc. “The documentary has already been screened at various international festivals, such as in Argentina at the Buenos Aires Festival, at the Guayaquil International Film Festival,” adds the composer. In addition, he was recently exposed to Ecuadorian migrants at the Ecuadorian embassy in Paris, France.
The genre in which Badaraco develops presents a challenge. She is a purely instrumentalist, and instrumental music, she admits, is far from popular music or mainstream. He argues that while he believes that instrumental music will not regain the popularity it once had, instrumentalists’ strategy of finding audience niches enriches the culture. “If we only had one option, it would all be monotonous…it’s good to have variety,” he reflects.
Badaraco’s mother, a lawyer, always wanted to be an artist. Badaraco admits that she felt pressure from her mother who wanted her to study music, at least when she was a child. “It’s normal, you are a child. It was difficult to go from school to the conservatory, our days started at 5 in the morning and ended at 10 in the evening,” emphasizes the artist, who indicates that at At the age of 15, he decided to devote himself entirely to music.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Lyzbeth Badaraco (@lyzbadaraco)
Rather than encounter obstacles in her career as a woman, Badaraco believes she has had to overcome the stigma that exists against pursuing artistic activities as a profession. “Sometimes I was asked what it is like to be an artist in Ecuador, where government support is very low, where there is no strong front that supports Ecuadorian culture,” emphasizes the pianist.
However, he also points out that he “trusts” that support for Ecuadorian culture will improve, as he sees an “independent movement” of prominent women artists, such as Camila Pérez, Luz Pinos, Grecia Albán, Pamela Cortés and Mirella Cesa . “We are the ones fighting for that every day,” says Badaraco.
“There are more festivals coming up, I can’t say much, but there are a few invitations to present the work in other places. There is also the Guayaquil Jazz Festival coming up, where my work will also be presented,” explains Badaraco.
’93: stories told through a piano’ and Lyzbeth Badaraco, a documentary about her life and music
In addition to his artistic projects, Badaraco is a full-time professor at UCSG. He explains that he started teaching “accidentally”: he believes it is important to give back what he has learned to the new generations of artists, to whom he always emphasizes that they should continue their projects, because he thinks that “it’s hard to be the leader of a solo instrumental project, but it’s not impossible”.
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Source: Eluniverso
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