CNN Spanish
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Music unites them and perhaps the genre, style or instrument of each one separates them. But there is something that allows artists as diverse as the violinist Daniela Padrón, the groups Rawayana and KerreKe, and the arranger and bassist Rodner Padilla to unify: Venezuelan blood.

All of them also share the fact that they stood out as winners at the Latin Grammy Awards a week ago. The also nominated Joaquina and Elena Rose did not win awards, but they had the privilege of singing at the gala to which they had arrived with the same number of nominations: four each, finding themselves in the most coveted category of the night, that of best album, which in the end went to the most recent by the Puerto Rican Bad Bunny.

Days after that gala and reviewing lists and statistics, I still think that Venezuela is experiencing one of its best moments at a creative level and in musical production, with unlimited diversity and with the same impact carried out by Colombian artists fifteen years ago. For the latter, being the kings of the urban genre was the mission, but for Venezuelans there seems to be no limits.

“It is a pride that inflates the chest and, at the same time, something almost surreal,” says Francisco Granados, senior vice president of A&R at the Warner Music Latina record label. “My career began on the radio and it has been almost 20 years witnessing the unstoppable advance of a new generation of Venezuelan artists who, since independence and with creativity, talent, effort and a lot of sacrifice, have been paving their way until turning our scene into a force that today overflows globally.”

In 2007, when I had been living in Los Angeles for a little over a year, my work led me to cover a very important cultural news locally: the announcement that a young Venezuelan conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, would be the musical director of the city’s philharmonic orchestra for the 2009-2010 season. A position that he has continued to occupy until now and that will soon come to an end, with the New York Philharmonic now employing him.

Upon meeting Dudamel, I learned about the benefits of what in his country has been known, for five decades, as “El Sistema”, a public musical education program that promoted the noble and transformative idea that every Venezuelan child learn to play an instrument. Gustavo Dudamel is a product of this.

That initiative makes me think that, thanks to that early exposure to music, it is the reason why today, directly or indirectly, we see so much musical diversity on stage and waving the tricolor flag.

“The new generation of Venezuelan artists who stand out on the scene range from singers, producers, musicians and composers who are products of the diaspora,” says Dulce María Ramos, a journalist specialized in cultural issues. “The awards and recognitions are the final result of long years searching for a space in the markets of Mexico, Miami and Spain. They are artists who, although they began their careers in Venezuela, in the face of the economic and social crisis, understood that the best way to expand their project – with a global approach and without forgetting their roots – was to pack their dreams, instruments and songs to make their talent flourish outside of home.”

For Granados, also of Venezuelan origin, this migratory particularity is also key. “Venezuela is serious. Our musical influences, diverse perhaps due to our geographic location, and our way of telling stories have a natural appeal for crossing borders, coupled with a migratory crisis that, within the tragedy that it represents, has opened a market.” And he highlights: “From my position as an executive I have seen it up close; this is not fortuitous. For years I worked with Venezuelan talents who, through composition, promoted hits for great Latin stars, and today is their time to shine as protagonists.”

As Ramos also remembers, the analysis of this new crop of talent invites us to review the history of a country that in the 80s and 90s also experienced another boom. “Franco de Vita, Yordano, Ricardo Montaner, José Luis Rodríguez, Karina, to mention a few names, achieved international success thanks to the fact that their careers were supported by a national industry, record labels and the great television channels of the time, Venevisión and RCTV.”

It is a recognition of a history that today seems to be repeating itself, although, to a large extent, from the outside. “At Warner Music Latina we trust in the global potential of Danny Ocean and Elena Rose, we support the path of Akapellah, we promote LAGOS and Los Mesoneros, and we are committed to new voices like Zulia, La Cruz or Dahili,” says the executive.

The list of musicians is long and Ramos adds names: “Corina Smith, who is signed by the label that represents Bad Bunny, the rock band Bucle Lunar, the experimental proposal of Baskiat and the cases of Briella, Stangah and Alan Wittels, who have taken advantage of social networks to promote their music. The pen of composers Sara Schell, Oscar Ignacio León and Luis Mogollón. This is just the beginning of a generation that understood that nothing is going to silence them.”

Once the Latin Grammy hangover has passed, everything indicates that there is plenty of musical talent in Venezuela and that the boom is not only serious, but also promises the emergence of new generations of artists for all tastes.