After studying both music and literature at New School University* in New York City, it was quite difficult to predict whether Isahrai Azaria's path would lead her to the lonely hermit writer's life or a musician's center stage existence. Over the next decade, the path grew even more unpredictable as she struggled with illness, got caught up in the internet boom, and then spontaneously moved to Zihuatanejo in 2004.
When it quickly became clear that opera singers aren't in much demand in Zihuatanejo, Isahrai could either resign herself to singing in the shower or find a new genre. And so, while learning Spanish, learning to walk on cobblestone in high heels, and learning how to live "on Mexican time" rather than rushing through each "New York minute", she learned to sing jazz. Forming La Boquita empowered Isahrai to continue her musical exploration with traditional Mexican & Cuban songs, bossa nova, 80s pop, and an immersion in both singing and writing folk music. Ironically, her musical journey has come full circle with La Boquita's weekly performances at Club Intrawest's Italian feast where she returns to her operatic roots.
Zihuatanejo not only introduced Isahrai to a new voice, but also to the possibility of living in harmony with all of her selves. The community and lifestyle here has given her the flexibility to move between the quiet solutide of a writer and the noisy exhibitionism of a singer, leading to a surprising new level of self-satisfaction and success as an artist as a whole.
"For me, I write because that's what I am, what keeps me up late at night and what drives me mad. I sing because that's what makes me feel passion, what makes me feel alive, and what gives me permission to be as crazy as I want to be."
*BFA in vocal performance from Mannes Conservatory, BA in cultural studies from Eugene Lang College, and MFA in creative writing from the New School Media Studies Program, all divisions of New School University
more about La Boquita.... Silvia Basurto :: Paolo Uccelli :: Mauricio López