Santiago de Surco

Santiago de Surco, commonly known simply as Surco, is a district of Lima, Peru. It is bordered on the north with the district of Ate Vitarte and La Molina; on the east with San Juan de Miraflores, on the west with San Borja, Surquillo, Miraflores and Barranco, and on the south with Chorrillos.

Due to its relatively large area, it is a very heterogeneous district, having inhabitants belonging to all socio-economic levels.

The northern parts of Surco, which are close to San Borja and La Molina, are known as Monterrico and Chacarilla and considerably more developed than the southern side of the district, having more upper class housing and the four major shopping centers of the district.

The only natural protected area in metropolitan Lima, the Pantanos de Villa Reserved Zone, is located in Santiago de Surco.

Culture, education and entertainment

Some of the most exclusive and prestigious universities of Lima are located in Surco, including University of Lima, ESAN University, Universidad Ricardo Palma, and Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas.

Chabuca Granda

María Isabel Granda Larco (Cotabambas, Apurímac, Peru, 3 September 1920 - Miami, United States, 1983), better known as Chabuca Granda, was a Peruvian singer and composer. She created and interpreted a vast number of Criollo waltzes with Afro-Peruvian rhythms. Her best known song is "La flor de la canela" (The Cinnamon Flower).

Biography

María Isabel Granda Larco was born on 3 September 1920, in a copper mining area in the region of Apurímac. She began singing at 12 years old, in the school choir at the exclusive girl's school Colegio Sophianum, in San Isidro, an affluent neighborhood of Lima, Peru.

At this age she sang as a soprano (an operation later gave her the deep voice for which she is remembered). However, she wasn't well known until after her divorce, a scandal in contemporary Lima's conservative Catholic society.

Early in her career her work was expressive and picturesque – evoking the romantic and beautiful neighborhood of Barranco in Lima, with its grand French houses with impressive entrances and winter gardens. Some of her most famous songs from this period are "Lima de Veras", "La flor de la Canela", "Fina Estampa", "Gracia", "José Antonio", and "Zeñó Manué", to name a few. She broke the conventional rhythmic structure of the waltz, later broke convention with her poetic cadences as well. Later in her career she wrote songs dedicated to the Chilean Violeta Parra and to Javier Heraud, a Peruvian poet who died in 1963.