For UNCG musicology lecturer Dr. Lorena Guillén, the beauty and power of speech goes beyond the semantic. Where one might hear simple conversation, Guillén hears music. Every inflection, pause, and emphasis is rich with melody, contour, and color.
Her recent album, “The Other Side of My Heart,” connects this passion for speech and music with another, more personal story. Through the album, Latina immigrants tell the story of their journeys from their countries of origin to North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad.
“As a person who immigrated to the United States from Argentina, I have a personal interest in this piece,” Guillén says. “I feel this was an artistic conversation that helped me to talk about myself as well.”
Lyrics were taken verbatim from approximately 12 hours of interviews Guillén conducted with six Latina immigrants in the Triad, and the piece even features direct audio samples of the women’s voices as they share their experiences.
“After hours of listening to the recordings over and over, a number of common themes became apparent,” Guillén says. “Looking for a better life, reunion with family, what could be brought and what was left behind, the struggle to learn a new language, feeling between two worlds, where is home?”
