Urbina was born and raised in Sardinal, Guanacaste as the youngest of ten siblings from a family of Nicaraguan immigrants who immigrated to Costa Rica in the 1930s. She was born into a rural household with no electricity, and did not own shoes until she was eleven years old. Her first experience with music was through her mother Angelita Juárez, who introduced her to the oral tradition of Guanacaste, and the ranchera music she heard on the radio when she was an infant. By the time she was eight years old, she had become a frequent performer at family events, with the large repertoire of traditional stories, songs, and rhythms she had learned from her mother or from local radio station broadcasts. When she was eleven years old, her mother died, and she was sent to San Joséto live with her older sisters. In San José, she was influenced by world music and the counterculture movement, listening to Joan Baez and the Latin American music of the 1970s.
Musical career
When Urbina was sixteen years old, she learned to play guitar and began to hone her skills as a poet and singer-songwriter. She attended the National University of Costa Rica in the city of Heredia to study music and guitar, where she won the first prize at the university song festival two years in a row. In 1988, Urbina performed at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica as a part of the Amnesty InternationalHuman Rights Now! tour. She received a Gaviota award from the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Spain, in 1994 for her work with oral tradition. A year later, she was presented with the Premio América from Radio France by Youssou N'Dour. In the mid-1990s, Urbina moved to the Netherlands. After her move, she continued composing music, combining her own musical compositions with the traditional songs of Guanacaste folklore that she encountered in her research. Her 2001 album Garden of Eden was published by world music record labels such as Putumayo World Music. She returned to Costa Rica in the early 2000s. In 2011, she performed a collection of works of the oral tradition of her birthplace of Guanacaste at the National Theatre of Costa Rica, where she first performed in 1989. Urbina has made tours in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. In Costa Rica, she has shared the stage with various different singers and musical groups including Bernardo Quesada, Patricio Barraza, Malpaís, Adrián Goizueta, Luis Ángel Castro,,,,, and Manuel Obregón. She has shared the stage with international artists including Guillermo Anderson, Daniel Viglietti,, Youssou N'Dour, Lokua Kanza, Tracy Chapman, Bruce Springsteen. She is known in Spain both for winning a Gaviota award from Madrid's Círculo de Bellas Artes and for her frequent television appearances in Madrid, such as on the RTVE program Sonidos étnicos.
Personal life
Urbina is currently living in Costa Rica. She directs the Fundación Voz Propia, an organization which supports the development of the arts in young people.
Media coverage
Urbina is the subject of the 2019 documentary film Los caminos del amor, which covers her life and work.
Discography
100 Varas Al Sur Del Herediano
De Todos Modos
Garden of Eden
Trópico Azul De Lluvia
La Madremonte: ritmos, cantos y cuentos
Al Menudeo
Cancionero Tradicional Anónimo De Guanacaste: "Sones de Tierra Caliente"
