Suni Paz

2020 National Heritage Fellow singer and songwriter Suni Paz is part of the progressive Latin American music movement known as nueva canción (new song).  For decades,  Paz has been guided by twin passions which are reflected in her music: a commitment to social justice and a creative approach to education.  In fact, Paz is a pioneer in the use of music to teach Spanish-language curricula. Born in Buenos Aires, Paz's was a large extended family of musicians, writers, and artists. Her grandmother painted, her doctor grandfather would play his violin to patients, and her father insisted that the family listen to opera each weekend.  Paz herself was singing and composing as a teenager. But when she heard the songs of Argentinian folk singer Atahualpa Yupanqui, who championed the music of indigenous people and songs about the poor, she became passionate about “music with a conscience.”  She came to the United States and began performing—alongside singers such as Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Don McClean, and Phil Ochs—in folk festivals, rallies, marches, festivals, and on concert stages around the world.

In this podcast, we talk about her family, her belief in the power of music to inform and transform people, her commitment to children and education, and her years writing and performing “music with a conscience.”