Today we’d like to introduce you to Catalina Londono.
Catalina, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My name is Catalina Londono and I’m a Latin music singer from Armenia, Colombia. Although I was not born into a family of musicians, since I was a little girl, I really liked singing. I always felt a great connection with music and it is something that makes me very happy to this day. My parents, very good listeners of music, always supported me. I always belonged to the musical band of my primary and high school in Colombia, where I received my first music classes and later I received classes at the music conservatory of the city of Armenia in Colombia. Music was something that I loved, but I never thought that I would dedicate all my life to singing and that I would do this for living. I always considered myself a very shy person. This whole beautiful process has been a challenge for me, and I love challenges.
When I finished school, I went to the city of Medellin, Colombia, to study fashion design, which was another of my passions. I did a semester of this career and when I was on vacation in Armenia with my family, an earthquake occurred that killed more than 2000 people in my small city. There I decided to stay in Armenia with my family and with the few options that there were to study, I decided to start my career in business administration. For life reasons, I ended up singing in the university orchestra and here I resume my musical career again. I began to work singing in the bars of the city, then in great orchestras as a soloist and thus, the music was catching me more and more. I tried to go the other way, but the music was behind me and it caught me again and I’m very happy for this. I came to the United States on a tour with a Latin music band. Where we had performances in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, on this tour, I met many people and musicians and made many contacts.
Later they call me from the city of Miami, where I went to work with important Latin American musicians and recognized orchestras in the city. I recorded four singles for the composer Francisco Robaina from Cuba: “Cumbiason- a tribute to Nelson Pinedo,” “Sexto Sentido (sixth sense),” “Regalame ese Sueno (give me that dream),” “Amor sincero (sincere love).” I settled in Miami and confirmed that my vocation was music. It is what makes me really happy and Miami gave me the opportunity to meet so many professional musicians and learn from each musical culture thanks to the cultural diversity that we have in this city. Each musician from each different country contributed more musical knowledge to me and I really enjoyed it. I have had the opportunity to perform with great artists like Tito Puente Jr. I have participated in Latin Grammy as a chorus girl, among many other events in the music industry.
Thanks to music, I have been able to know many places thanks to the tours I have had in Mexico, Bahamas, Italy, Prague, United States, Peru, Panama, Colombia, Spain, France and Switzerland. I have been interested in various musical genres and I feel that I have the versatility to do it. But I have performed more on the Latin scene. Although I have also done some American music and I studied jazz at Miami Dade College with the direction of Professor Michael Diliddo, from whom I have learned a lot. Among many other teachers who have contributed to my musical career to this day. At this moment, I plan to continue my musical career and continue learning every day to be able to share the magic of music with everyone around the world.
Has it been a smooth road?
I feel that this path has had a bit of everything. I have found beautiful people who have helped me a lot to grow as an artist and brothers in music who have become my family. As I have also found bad people who want to exploit you, envy and bad vibes that I have been able to overcome. In general, I think that the path has been beautiful because of all the good and bad people that have passed. I have learned a lot and this is what really matters. I have faced many challenges throughout my career and I love that I have accomplished them. Many people think it is just fun but it is not. of course I live on what I love. But this also takes sleepless nights, a lot of study, tiredness, being away from the family (the hardest part), it is not easy to have a couple of relationships, among many things. But all this is paid by your audience when they applaud you when you realize that there are people who enjoy your show and that you are making people happy.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I have the versatility to sing various musical styles and in different languages. So my show is very entertaining and diverse. Because I love taking a tour of the countries of the world and I do this show according to my audience. I can go from a bolero, a jazz, or Bossanova, to a cha-cha, a salsa, a merengue. My strength is Latin music. But I do many more things.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Miami for the diversity of cultures we have, for the Latin human warmth, because the Americans here are not racist and they welcome you and they enjoy and appreciate your music too, for our climate, the sea, because I grew up in a city far from the sea. I love the quality of the musicians we have here. It is a challenge every day to share musical stages with such talented people. Competitiveness leads you to keep updated.
What I don’t like is that I’m away from my family. My whole family lives in Colombia. But in Miami, I have found friends who have become my family and the music and charm of Miami keeps me alive here and won’t let me fall But I do go to visit my family in Colombia frequently because I miss them too much.
Contact Info:
- Email: catalinalondon@gmail.com
- Instagram: @catalondon
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/catalondonmusic
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVGECfESmq8FenvjNA33S4w?view_as=subscriber
Image Credit:
Claudia Sarmiento
Hector Zamora
Marlont Pawoll Renals
Gabriel Cifuentes
Marcela Becerra
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