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Photo courtesy of the artist.
Mary Alfaro Velasco
Singer-songwriter
Mary Alfaro Velasco is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and music educator from Los Angeles, California. She performs diverse musical styles of the Americas including boleros, rancheras, and American roots music to celebrate the depths of female, queer and Latinx identity. She has performed with various mariachi groups, trío romántico ensembles, and other ranchera groups throughout the US and has recorded with La Santa Cecilia, Gaby Moreno and José Luis Orozco. Alfaro Velasco has composed and recorded music for professional film, theater, and television productions and has released singles from her first record, a collection of bolero covers to tell a story of gay girl love, loss and healing. She is currently arranging and writing songs for the next volume of recordings.
Alfaro Velasco received her B.A. in music and M.A. in Latin American studies from UCLA and has worked on projects to promote and preserve Latinx musical traditions at Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture, and LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. She co-teaches a mariachi class at Santa Monica College and as an interviewer with the UCLA Center for Oral History, she is currently working on an initiative to preserve the stories of mariachi and ranchera musicians in Los Angeles.
Living Cultures Grant
2023
Bolero Album
Mary Alfaro will record several boleros for an album of bolero classics and lesser-known songs to tell a story of gay girl love, loss and healing.
Apprenticeship Program
2020
2018
Jesus Martinez + Mary Alfaro, Los Angeles + San Fernando
Mentor artist Jesus Martinez will mentor his musical collaborator, apprentice Mary Alfaro, in the techniques and repertoire of the requinto romántico, a soprano melodic guitar played in trio romántico, a form of bolero music rooted in Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.