Lorena Guillen
Education
State University of New York at Buffalo
- Ph.D. in Historical Musicology and Music Theory (2007)
- MM in Vocal Performance (1999)
University of New Mexico
- BA in Music (Voice Concentration)– Cum Laude (1997)
Studies in Vocal Performance – Conservatorio Nacional de Música “Cárlos López Buchardo” – Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Biography
Lorena Guillen is a musicologist, singer, songwriter and music director that specializes in vernacular music of Latin America and oral history in music. Currently a Senior Lecturer at UNCG School of Music, she has also served as faculty at Hartwick College (NY) and the Saint Lucia School of Music (Saint Lucia, WI).
Guillén is the author of the articles on “Tango” and “Astor Piazzolla” published in the Grove Dictionary of American Music (2nd ed.). She has also published in the International Review Journal of Music and Music Performance about her music project on the oral history of Latino Immigrant Women. She regularly presents lecture-recitals on “tango” related topics in conferences and university venues.
As a performer, she has become a figure of the tango scene in US by presenting with her Lorena Guillen Tango Ensemble imaginative programs of traditional tango standards and “new” fusion tango music. She recorded for Innova Records, University of Arizona Recordings, and Kindermusik, and has released two albums with her tango ensemble, Exótica Flor (2023) and The Other Side of My Heart (2017).
Guillén has appeared on diverse national and international stages as a classically trained singer, popular song interpreter and music director of her Lorena Guillén Tango Ensemble, among those: Kathmandu International Theater Festival (Nepal); Camargo Foundation (Cassis, France); Oceanographic Institute and Prince Albert 1st Foundation (Monaco); Music Gallery at Toronto (Canada); Stockhausen Music Festival (Germany), MusicBox Concert Series (Saint Lucia, W.I) and Puerto Rico University; CAFF Festival of Alternative Tango and Conservatorio Astor Piazzolla (Buenos Aires, Argentina).
Guillén received two Notable Latina Awards from the Latino Coalition of the Triad, and was awarded grants for her research and creative work from NewMusicUSA, Arts Greensboro through their ”Regional Artist Award” and EDI Grant from University of North Carolina-College of Visual and Performing Arts, and UNCG International Kohler Fund.
Subjects Taught
- Western Music History I & II (Undergraduate)
- Writing Through Music (MAC, Undergraduate)
- Latin American Popular Music (Upper-Level Undergraduate and Graduate)
- Latin American Folk Music Ensemble (Undergraduate and Graduate)