Coral’s Cross-Cultural Exchange

By Joy Ramirez

Jan 20 2011

The United States and Argentina share more than 200 years of history as the oldest independent states in North and South America. They are also the two countries that are home to Coral Campopiano. Known simply as Coral, the Argentine pop singer has been compared to Liz Phair and Alanis Morissette, but counts Joni Mitchell, Blondie and Fleetwood Mac as her musical idols. It’s not hard to see why soulful, beautiful women come to mind when talking about Coral.

Born in Argentina, she landed in New York by way of Miami more than a decade ago. But Coral recently moved back to Buenos Aires where she works on her music as well as the nascent acting career she first pursued as a teenager. She landed a role this year in a popular show called “Malparida,” Argentina’s version of “Friends.” Now the singer-songwriter floats effortlessly between the two worlds of New York and Buenos Aires, of acting and singing, and of writing and performing as fluidly as she alternates between Spanish and English.

Signed to BMG in Argentina as a teenager, the songstress moved to New York and recorded her first album in English in 2006. After playing in clubs all over the city while steadily gaining a following in the American market, Coral decided in early 2009 to move back to Argentina and focus on gaining popularity in her home country. The crossover artist says she feels at home in both places but her writing is decidedly different depending on which audience she is writing for.

Although she misses New York and intends to go back and forth between the two cities as much as possible, it has been a good decision to return to Buenos Aires. Her new album “Volver” was nominated for a Gardel Prize for Album of the Year, and she received a lot of exposure at her country’s huge Bicentennial celebration in May 2010.

“Argentina is a complicated country,” she says. “There is always a crisis, (and now) financial insecurity, crime and a lot of emotion there.” This undoubtedly makes its way into her music. She concedes, “I have a lot in my soul at this moment.”