Nicaragua's Duo Guardabarranco: Katia Cardenal in Concert

Katia Cardenal who use to tour with her late brother Salvador as Duo Guardabarranco shares her current repertoire at Berkeley La Peña, which now includes the iconic song "Si Te Vas A San Francisco" (If you go to S.F).

Nicaraguan Singer and Songwriter
Katia Cardenal in Concert
Sunday February 27, 2011. $22 adv. $24 dr. 7:30pm
La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley, Ca. 94705. 510-849-2568

Acclaimed, Nicaraguan singer-songwriter, Katia Cardenal, premiers her Spanish rendition of SF Flowers… Si Te Vas a San Francisco, a song and a video tribute to SF’s Nicaraguan solidarity movement. Katia who use to tour with her late brother Salvador as Duo Guardabarranco shares her current repertoire which now includes the iconic song "Si Te Vas A San Francisco" (If you go to S.F).

Born in Managua, Nicaragua in 1963, started her fondness to music at a very young age, singing in the high-school choir. At the age of 16, she started performing in public with her brother the singer-songwriter Salvador Cardenol, the two as Duo Guardabarranco. Soon the fresh harmonies and the original style of composing were noticed, not only by the local fans and connoisseurs of music, but also by the International movement of La Nueva Cancion Latinoamericana. After only one year on the road the duo started touring internationally, North and Central America and Europe, Performing with artists such as Silvio Rodriguez, Mercedes Soza, Jackson Browne, Bruce Cockburn, Nanci Griffith, Melissa Etheridge, Miriam Makeba, Age Aleksandersen, Bjørn Afielius, Pablo Milanes, Pete Seeger, Daniel Vigliettri, Peter, Paul & Mary and more.

In 1990, she represented Nicaragua as a singer in the OTI International Song Festival, winning the second Prize in Las Vegas, United States among 22 countries from the Hispanic world, with the song "Dame tu Corazon". Today married with three children, Katia relocated to Oslo, Norway in December 1996, has continued her career as a singer.

Sponsored by the MangoMundo Foundation, the project, is a remake in Spanish of the historic song, “San Francisco (Flowers in Your Hair) created in 1967 by John Phillips (The Mamas & the Papas) to start SF’s Summer of Love, which was in protest of the Vietnam War. In the 70-80’s, Nicaragua became the new Vietnam, and again, the solidarity movement in support of SF was born out of SF, with key support coming from The Mission District and Berkeley.

The remake was re-written and performed by Nicaraguan singer-songwriter, Katia Cardenal, who performed it several times in SF’s Bay Area solidarity concerts (La Peña, Brava) with her brother Salvador as the Duo Guardabarranco.

The video presents images from SF’s Nicaraguan Solidarity movement in chronological order from 1976-87, includes historical photos from UC Berkeley’s Examiner Collection as well as noted photographers such as Chris Felver (Lawrence Ferlinghetti), Lou Dematteis, and Marvin Collins. El Tecolote Newspaper has also contributed historic photos. MangoMundo Foundation is a new California nonprofit that promotes a positive image and awareness of Nicaraguan culture, through creative media and the arts.##