Martha Echenique, known as «La Dama del Bolero», is a Dominican bolero and ballad singer born in Barahona. She recorded through the 1990s and earned the name from a 1997 concert that won her a Premio Casandra.

Origins

She was born in Barahona on March 8, 1953, the daughter of José Echenique, a poet and lawyer from Azua. She also works as a fashion designer, and as of 2011 she lived in Santiago de los Caballeros.

Recordings

Her first professional release was «Diferente», issued on cassette in 1991. Three years later she recorded her first CD, «Con Todo Mi Sentimiento», which includes «Aunque Me Cueste la Vida», a song by Luis Kalaff.

«Bailemos Boleros»

In 1997 she gave her first concert, «Bailemos Boleros», at the Teatro La Fiesta of the Hotel Jaragua in Santo Domingo. The concert gave her the title «La Dama del Bolero» and won the Premio Casandra for Concert of the Year. A second concert, «Gala», followed in 1998 at the Sala Principal of the Teatro Nacional.

Family

Her daughter Didi Hernández is a merengue singer who leads her own orchestra.