Artists and bandsGladys Moreno
Singer born in Santa Cruz in 1933; the city’s cultural department traces her early radio and recording career.
The voice that carried a taquirari
Gladys Moreno began singing on Radio Electra in Santa Cruz in 1948. Her first recordings took her to La Paz with the group Los Planetas. Among the music she carried from the east of Bolivia was the taquirari, a dance song associated with the region.
One of her best-known interpretations was “Viva Santa Cruz”, written by Gilberto Rojas. Rojas came from Oruro in western Bolivia; visits to the east and its music informed his compositions. The song praises Santa Cruz and has become closely associated with the city through Moreno’s voice.
Moreno also sang cuecas from other Bolivian regions. The movement went in both directions: an eastern singer recorded in La Paz, while a composer from Oruro wrote a taquirari for Santa Cruz. Her recording of Rojas’s song keeps those journeys together.
Songs