Before Silvio Rodríguez’s first chord at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires, before Martí arrived in his voice, before he proposed founding a match of dreams and dressed the night with his epic of a tireless troubadour, a woman took the stage with a guitar.
Paula Ferré, the same one from Vicente Feliú’s Canto de Todos, the founder of MUJERTROVA, which promotes integration between artists from various parts of the world from Argentina, was not just “the preamble” to the promise of a concert to thank life, to sustain hope. His voice, warmth and lyricism covered the audience with good vibes, the first substance needed to be happy.
“Before the concert, I thought that such a large place with so many people would make me dizzy. However, thanks to the audience’s reception, I felt very comfortable. I was able to inhabit the stage with ease and joy.
“It was exciting to enter, and to have almost 4 thousand people receive me with so much affection. By the second song the audience had already increased considerably, and by the fifth, there were almost 10 thousand.
“Singing in front of so many people implies a great responsibility. It was not the first time, I remember being with Vicente Feliú, León Gieco and other singers, on the 80th anniversary of Che’s birth in Rosario, in front of about 50 thousand people.
“But this time it was special. It was a concert in a closed place, with more privacy. I loved the audience, aware of my presence all the time, willing to listen and support my performance, even though it was much earlier than the agreed time for Silvio’s start.
”I enjoyed sharing with all those beautiful people, many linked to social organizations, others who know me for my cultural militancy; we were all united by the love for Silvio’s music, a true master.
“In 2019, he sent me an invitation to be part of the Neighborhood Tour that he was taking in Cuba. It was scheduled to happen in June 2020, but the pandemic prevented it. However, true to his style and his word, he did not forget about that proposal.
“For this reason, he deeply honored me with this gift. I was his first opening act at the concerts he performed in Buenos Aires. That gesture has enormous value, not only because of the artistic opportunity, but because it came directly from him: a man of his word and immense sensitivity.
“I came across his songs when I was thirteen years old, in those beach campfires while we discovered our passion for the guitar. In 1984, when he came to Argentina, it was decisive for me. I was able to get to know his work in more depth and understand the magnitude of his poetry.
“I met him personally much later, in 1997, at Vicente Feliú’s house. I had been invited to a lunch and I didn’t know that Silvio would be there. When I saw him arrive, I was so moved that I started to cry.
“He approached, asked why I was crying. I answered that I had known Cuba through its songs and that I was very excited to see it in person. Then he said with a laugh that she was a tearful troubadour and that, if she had known that someone could know the country’s landscapes through her songs, she would have written much more about every corner.
“That afternoon we spent more than three hours listening to their stories, including about the war in Angola. We shared songs with Vicente and other guests. It was a tremendously human and luminous encounter, one of those that is recorded forever.
“In 2019, we met again in ojala, and there he agreed to record one of my songs together. Later, the material was used to accompany the fight for the liberation of Milagro Sala, an indigenous woman, unjustly imprisoned by the Macri government, who is still detained. We recorded it from a distance in the midst of the pandemic. It is called Original Woman, it is found on all platforms, and it also serves as a tribute to the indigenous peoples who suffer so much and resist in our southern countries.
“I am a fervent activist of collective song. I believe that music is much more valuable when it represents a group of artists, a shared vision of the world, common interests, similar pains and successes that we celebrate together.
“MUJERTROVA emerged in 2013 with the need to make visible the work of the women troubadours of my country. Over time, the project began to include international guests, becoming a meeting that, although it takes place in Argentina, includes more than 70 Latin American composers.
”All of them defend their work with some instrument and are committed to their environment, bringing their music and message to society in an active and conscious way.
“Although I am the founder, MUJERTROVA is a movement that was built together. Our godmother is Teresa Parodi and our godfather, Vicente Feliú. They accompany and inspire us on this path.
“I am also part of Canto de Todos. These groups are created to form a brotherhood, build identity, to resist and project oneself within a society that is sometimes quite hostile, both for women and for artists in general, singer-songwriters. I like to be there, in the pack.
“In 2016 I founded La Casa Museo de la Trova Argentina, also a little inspired by Vicente. He lived with my family every year, in my own house. I had the pleasure of managing 17 tours around the country for him.
”In my room, among more than 50 musicians, we celebrated Humberto del Monte Mar’s last birthday, and that day in March 2016 we officially founded the House.
“Since then, my own home has become a living space of Latin American culture. We receive singers from many parts of the world, storytellers, poets; we show feature films, we hold fairs, festivals; we have an exhibition with books, records, posters. We have organized more than 60 concerts, including, of course, some by Vicente, Teresa Parodi, Cecilia Todd and all of MUJERTROVA.
“The House Museum, in short, is my own home. So people not only come to listen to a concert or see objects, but they live a complete experience: I open my intimacy, my family, to them, I receive them with love and dedication.
“Now, about to turn 10 years old, we are going to launch the Virtual Trova House Museum project. Through videos, we will show objects from the place, anecdotes, so that anyone, from anywhere in the world, can get to know it and live, even from a distance, the experience of this very particular space.
“My recording studio is another project that I carry out with Adrian Ocdriozola, my life partner. Currently, it is used for our productions and for the recording of the students of the Taller Canto Sincero, which I have been teaching for several years and which in May 2025 I was able to offer in the Canary Islands in a master class format.
”In this interpretation workshop, I encourage you to experience the song as an offering and as a way of seeing the world, more than as a simple show.
”Right now I am working on my next album, Palomas del bien, Paula Ferré sings Humberto del Monte Mar, which I hope to release by 2026.
“I will continue forward, trusting in my path. Capitalizing on this experience with Silvio, promoting new spaces and more accurate opportunities for me and for my colleagues. I will continue opening passages of song in the world, through initiatives that promote awareness, reflection, social commitment and militancy through art.
“I hope that all this impact in the press these days will translate into new opportunities, because I am a cultural worker. That doors will open to national festivals, today monopolized by men, and to international meetings that allow us to continue establishing links and networks with other colleagues.
“I am happy and grateful for Silvio’s invitation; it is a privilege to be part of this story. It was a deeply beautiful and comforting experience.
“Silvio Rodríguez’s song is very loved in my country. But, in this time of so much cruelty, inequality and injustice, his music becomes a gesture of rebellion and resistance that people need more than ever.
“That’s why their songs are still valid, so painfully current, for us and for all of Latin America. In the political context of Argentina, they are a breath of fresh air for a part of society that seeks to change this reality and needs to build a more just country.”
