Vaneza facilitating a collective songwriting corrido workshop at Pacoima City Hall on March 12, 2019. Photo: Timo Saarelma
Vaneza Mari Calderon
Collective Songwriting Teaching Artist
Vaneza Mari Calderon is a multifaceted musician from San Gabriel Valley. From singing in her family church choir at 6 years old and playing mariachi music at 10, her upbringing was deeply inspired by the traditional arts. Vaneza is a multi-instrumentalist who sings, plays mariachi guitar and guitarrón (mariachi bass), and the upright and electric bass. Among her accomplishments, Vaneza joined Grammy-winning Mariachi Divas in 2005, performing in major theaters, community performances, and youth detention performances at Eastlake Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, and provided production assistance at recording sessions. Mariachi music has led her to play nationally and internationally. Vaneza also complements her beginnings in Mexican folk music by playing the electric bassist in the Chicano rock band Ollin, and their alter-band, Dirty Old Town: a sincere tribute to The Pogues.
Vaneza has facilitated collective group songwriting throughout LA since 2016 and her teaching experience includes being a mariachi guitar and rhythm instructor, teaching ukulele in the community, and leading songwriting workshops. She has been working as a Teaching Artist since 2018, offering Collective Songwriting and Guitar courses at Ironwood State Prison, California Rehabilitation Center, North Kern State Prison, and California City Correctional Facility.
In 2014, Vaneza was an ACTA Apprentice under Guadalupe Custom Strings in East Los Angeles, where she learned the art of making guitarrón strings. In 2015, she co-founded the mariachi-inspired trio La Victoria, which uses folk instruments and styles to keep the mariachi tradition alive while utilizing the same sounds and rhythms to create new compositions.
La Victoria has supported projects with ACTA’s Building Healthy Communities–Boyle Heights, working with ex-gang members and people re-entering the community after incarceration (Homeboy Industries).
