JUNTAS

CHICAS

JUNTAS CHICAS

✦

JUNTAS CHICAS ✦

THE PROJECT

Born from the creative vision of multi-talented performers Julia del Palacio and Claudia Valentina in 2019, Juntas Chicas is a groundbreaking female-fronted project. Their unique sound merges traditional Mexican music with contemporary influences, reflecting the duo's experiences in New York’s diverse cultural landscape.

Juntas Chicas unites the City’s finest traditional and Latin jazz musicians. Their innovative sound blends son jarocho, rancheras, and norteño with jazz, cumbia, and flamenco. The result is a captivating musical tapestry that celebrates the rich diversity musical traditions while pushing boundaries into exciting new territory.

Cultures cross-pollinate and creative expression transcends boundaries. By infusing the folkloric heritage they inherited with the boundless influences of the artistic melting pot they call home, they've forged a bold, refreshingly modern sound that is unmistakably their own.

THE CHICAS

Julia del Palacio

Born and raised in Mexico, Julia del Palacio learned the traditional son jarocho zapateado from renowned dancers in Veracruz and Mexico City.
Julia has been performing professionally in the United States, Canada, and Mexico for the past fifteen years—with Radio Jarocho, a project she co-founded and directed for 13 years, and a wide range of artists, including Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, The Green Fields of America, David Wax Museum, Sonia de los Santos, Claudia Valentina, and Nixtaband. Julia has danced at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Joe’s Pub, Celebrate Brooklyn, St. Peter’s Church, Pregones Theater, the Old Town School, The New Victory Theater, Symphony Space, El Museo del Barrio, the Kennedy Center, SXSW, the Newport Folk Festival, and Flushing Town Hall.
She regularly teaches classes in zapateado and in the history and structure of son jarocho, leading workshops and lecture demonstrations at Harvard University, Lehman College, Salisbury University, Swarthmore College, among others.
Claudia Valentina

An independent artist based in NY, singer, dancer and jarana player, Claudia Valentina Montes is the daughter of Mexican and Jamaican immigrants. She has recorded/toured the US/Mexico as lead singer with Afro-Mexican band Jarana Beat, and Latin Grammy Award winning/Grammy nominated all female mariachi band, Flor de Toloache.
In 2019 she closed the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, toured Andalucía as a soloist, and has collaborated with the likes of Arturo O'Farril's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, John Benitez, Dan Zanes and Sonia de los Santos. She has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, Joe's Pub, SXSW, Pregones Theatre, El Museo del Barrio, the Kennedy Center, the United Nations and the Shanghai Expo. She was also co-founder, and cultural program director of SonJarochoNY, and co-founder, outreach director, dancer and teacher with Calpulli Mexican Dance Company. Claudia continues to perform, and is currently working on her first solo album with Latin Grammy award winning producer and percussionist, Felipe Fournier.