The Sunday Times – The voice Pinochet couldn’t silence

I am Valentina Montoya Martínez – a Chilean-born singer, songwriter, poet, and historian based in Scotland. My life and work are deeply shaped by exile: I arrived in the UK as a child after the 1973 Chilean coup d’état, and I’ve spent my life weaving together the threads of memory, music, and storytelling. My artistic journey began with a love for the folk and tango music my mother brought from Chile – songs that became a lifeline during exile. I taught myself to sing and play guitar, and later studied Community Theatre at Rose Bruford College and later Comparative American Studies and History at Warwick University. These disciplines continue to inform my creative work, which explores themes of displacement, identity, and dictatorship. Together with my partner, Scottish guitarist and arranger David A. Russell, I formed Valentina and Voces del Sur which developed into our new project, Canto Bordao.

Below is an article from the Sunday Times in Scotland.