A native of Northern California, Yolanda Aranda's love for the music of her Mexican heritage began very early in her life. Accompanying her father, Ernesto, to his music lessons and performances in church or at Mexican festivals, she then studied with Solomón Guevara, a music teacher from Mexico City who also professed yoga, vegetarianism, and spirituality.

Yolanda's home was filled with the many different kinds of music her parents loved: salsa, classical, Mexican rancheras, cumbias, American pop, and Nat King Cole--all played at full volume! Voice training began for Yolanda and her sister Pat in their car, during yearly road trips to visit relatives in Northern Mexico. Along the highways through deserts and small towns is where she learned her very first authentic Mexican ranchera, "Canción Mixteca."

"Some of my fondest memories are of sitting with relatives around a small camp fire (sharing its warmth with goats and chickens). We would drink Mexican hot chocolate while the beautiful baritone voices of my father and my uncle Roberto filled the night sky."

Since those early musical days, Yolanda has found her way along the path of many musical styles, from opera to folk and jazz. Yolanda rediscovered Mexican music and singing as a soloist in the Mexican corrido style with Coro Hispano, a well-known Latin American choral group in San Francisco under the direction of Juan Pedro Gaffney. That led to an invitation to sing with a mariachi at Francis Ford Coppola's estate and performances with Latina Theatre Lab, Culture Clash, and Los Cenzontles.

Since meeting guitarist Enrique Coria, Yolanda has traveled with him to South America, and has had the privilege of learning authentic styles, intricate rhythms, and the interpretation of Latin American folk pieces. With the Acoustic Disc release of Intimo (ACD-50), Yolanda Aranda and Enrique Coria have created an authentic and intimate musical journey on a level of high art--the perfect marriage of voice and guitar.

"Thanks to Enrique's skillful musical guidance, patience, and love, I am proud to sing all of these beautiful, heartfelt, and soulful songs. The memories and events of my musical childhood are profoundly etched in the person and performer I have become."