Teresa Adelina Sellarés, best known as Teresa Parodi, (born December 30, 1947) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

singer and songwriter. She held the inaugural post of

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

of Argentina from May 6, 2014, to December 9, 2015. She was a deputy to the

Mercosur Parliament The Mercosur Parliament (, ), known also as Parlasur, or Parlasul, is the parliamentary institution of the Mercosur trade bloc. It is composed of 81 MPs, 18 from each member states of the bloc – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay &n ...

(Parlasur) representing the nationwide district of Argentina from December 10, 2015, to October 6, 2016. She was elected on the Front for Victory ticket in the 2015 election.

Life and career

Born Teresa Adelina Sellarés in Corrientes, she was introduced to music when studying singing and taking guitar lessons at the age of nine. Her grandmother hosted frequent music festivals in her farm along the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...

, and there she learned the Chamamé (a danceable genre of Argentine folk music) as well as Zambas,

Chacarera The Chacarera is a dance and music that originated in Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It is a genre of folk music that, for many Argentina, Argentines, serves as a rural counterpart to the cosmopolitan imagery of the tango (ballroom), Tango. A da ...

s, Huaynos, Cuecas, and other popular South American folk music genres. She later performed in numerous local festivals in her youth. She married Guillermo Parodi, a systems analyst, in 1967, and they had five children. Both politically active in the left-leaning Peronist Youth, her husband was briefly detained during the

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

that took power in 1976; he lost his job in Corrientes as a result, and in 1979 the couple relocated to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. Teresa Parodi started her solo career at this time, performing at small venues in Buenos Aires, and in 1979 was brought on as guest vocalist for Astor Piazzolla's '' Nuevo tango'' quintet. Her 1980 debut album, ''Teresa Parodi desde Corrientes'', was followed in 1983 by ''Canto a los hombres del pan duro'' ('A Song for Poor Men'), adding music to the work of prominent poets such as

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

and Jorge Calvetti. Parodi was awarded the Consecration Award at the 1984 Cosquín National Folk Festival, and later performed as soloist in a number of notable events, including a 1986 concert with Cuban songwriter Pablo Milanés at Luna Park Stadium and in a 1988 tour of the U.S. and Europe. Parodi was voted Best Composer of the Decade in 1995, receiving a Platinum Konex Award to the effect, and in 1999 received the Gold Camín Lifetime Achievement Award at the Cosquín National Folk Festival. She was named Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires in 2006. Parodi went to compose approximately 500 songs in 30 albums and has been a constant presence at the thousand folk festivals across Argentina as well as in San Diego, Houston, Washington, New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Santiago de Compostela, Paris, Brussels, Cuba, Mexico City, Chiapas, Monterrey, Antwerp, Zurich, Barcelona,

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the Maresme county in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, Maresme coast, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, north-east of Barcel ...

, Stockholm, Amsterdam, São Paulo, Berlin, Seville, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Saragossa, Quito, and Asunción. Following a decision to promote the Culture Secretariat to a cabinet-level ministry, on May 7, 2014, President

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and former politician who served as the 56th president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice ...

nominated Parodi as the nation's first

Awards and recognition

* 1984: Consecration Award, Festival Nacional de Folclore de Cosquín. * 1994: Best Album (female singers) ''Con el alma en vilo'', Asociación de Cronistas del Espectáculo (ACE). * 1995: Platinum Konex Award, Best Songwriter/Composer of the Decade. * 1996: 'Estrella de Mar' Award, Mar del Plata. * 1999: Gold Camín Lifetime Achievement Award, Festival Nacional de Folclore de Cosquín. * 1999: Fondo Nacional de las Artes Award. * 2004: Carlos Gardel Award. Best Álbum Folclore Female Artist * 2011: Premio Nacional de la Artes 2011 song: ''Aún caminan conmigo''.

Discography

* 1983: ''Canto a los hombres del pan duro'', LP * 1985: ''El purajheí de Teresa Parodi'', LP * 1986: ''Mba-e pa reicó, chamigo!'', LP * 1987: ''Teresa'', LP * 1988: ''Letra y música'', LP * 1988: ''El otro país'', LP * 1989: ''Otras cosas'', LP * 1990: ''Ya está la taba en el aire'', LP * 1991: ''De amores, sombras y transparencias'', LP * 1991: ''11 de Latijns Amerika Festival'', LP * 1992: ''Pasiones'', LP * 1993: ''Correntinas'', LP * 1994: ''Con el alma en vilo'', LP * 1995: ''Correntinas II'', LP * 1996: ''Parte de mí'', LP * 1997: ''Como dicho al pasar'', LP * 1998: ''Señales de vida'', LP * 2001: ''El canto que no cesa'', LP * 2003: ''Soy feliz'', LP * 2005: ''Pequeñas revoluciones'', LP * 2007: ''Autobiografía'', LP * 2009: ''Corazón de pájaro''. * 2011: ''Otro cantar''.

References

External links

teresaparodi.com
(Official website)
Ministry of Culture of Argentina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parodi, Teresa 1947 births Living people 20th-century Argentine women singers 20th-century Argentine guitarists 20th-century women guitarists 21st-century Argentine women singers 21st-century Argentine guitarists 21st-century women guitarists 21st-century Argentine politicians 21st-century Argentine women politicians Argentine women guitarists Argentine women singer-songwriters Argentine singer-songwriters Fernández de Kirchner administration cabinet members Illustrious Citizens of Buenos Aires Ministers of culture of Argentina People from Corrientes Women government ministers of Argentina