Ileana Garces (One
Voice)untitled – Coming 2002
Ileana Garces, has enjoyed a whirlwind year in 2002 with activities including being
nominated for two prestigious awards in two different countries, touring, appearing at
conventions, and making numerous television appearances. However, to many fans of
Christian music Ileana Garces is not a household name.
A Miami girl of Cuban descent, Ileana grew up in a Christian home and attended the
nondenominational church her parents founded and served as pastors. She started singing
on the church worship team when she was nine years old, and she had her first praise and
worship song published when she was ten.
Growing up in a Christian home caused Ileana to feel “like a robot.” She say, “My parents
taught me this and that, but I finally came to the place where I had to learn my relationship
with God is not based on my parents. It is a one on one relationship. I had to learn that the
hard way.”
The hard way for Ileana did not involve the usual pitfalls of drugs, alcohol or sex. For her
it was a matter of giving her heart to the wrong people, trying to win their love and
acceptance, and suffering a deep anguish as the consequence of “looking for love in all the
wrong places” as the old song goes. With a touching candor Ileana says, “I am six feet tall
and a big woman, and sometimes we are taught that is not beautiful, but there is so much
more to a person than physical appearance. We cannot play the role God has called us to
play if we do not love ourselves and what God has created.” She came to the realization
that, “God is my only answer. The price has already been paid – I just never realized that.
He paid the price for me.”
Her personal experience with pain and her own soul searching have given Ileana a heart for
ministering to hurting women. “I am not a feminist, in fact, I am totally against that, but I
do believe women can change the world,” Ileana affirms. :Maybe I don’t fit the normal
profile of a Christian artist, but there is a certain kind of person I am called to reach.
Whether you are a housewife or a mother or a working woman, I am called to help these
women deal with the heart issues.
This formula seems to be working. Ileana caused a traffic jam on the exhibition floor at July’s CBA International Convention
in Atlanta by signing autographs for close to 5 hours (until everyone else had left the
convention floor and officials started flicking the lights). She spent much of the summer and fall touring in Central America. While there, she
appeared on numerous major TV and radio shows in several countries. Her single, “No
More Loneliness,” reached #3 on Radio Viva, Guatemala’s largest radio network, and Top
10 on Radio Manchete in Rio de Janeiro. Garces has recently received a Trofeu Talento
(Brazilian Music Award) nomination for Best International Artist of the Year.
Ileana was the featured performer at the nationally televised Viva Awards in Guatemala
and opened in Brazil for Latin America’s top-selling Christian artist, Marcos Witt. During
the show, the crowd of 10,000 recognized and sang along with her hit song “No More
Loneliness.” She also headlined at Guatemala City, Guatemala’s Concert of War, a
Halloween alternative concert that brought in more than 5,000 fans.
The Spanish version of Ileana’s debut release, Dare to Love, was nominated for the
2002 Spanish–language Album of the Year Dove Award. Ileana was interviewed in the
media room and described how blessed she felt being nominated for awards in two
countries.
During the Easter weekend, Ileana Garces was featured on Univision’s Primer Impacto
(First Impact ), which features headline news and special stories. Univision, the #1
Spanish language network in the U.S., has more than 100 million viewers worldwide.
Primer Impacto’s Tony Dandradez interviewed Garces and commented on her angelic voice
during the interview, comparing her success to that of Jaci Velasquez’ early career.
Dare to Love is distributed by Provident Music Distribution.
Related Links:
Spotlight: Ileana Garces
Christian Activities Ileana Garces Forum
