“Eventually everything connects – people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.”
-Charles Eames
Catalina Mejía Rodríguez is a Colombian singer-songwriter and engineer who relocated to Germany 15 years ago. Her music album, Los colores de mi ancestro (The Colors of My Ancestors), released in early 2024, represents a unique synthesis of traditional Colombian musical forms and contemporary musical innovations. The compositions are distinguished by intricate harmonies and melodies that traverse diverse narratives in conjunction with the lyrics. The album is a tribute to Catalina’s father, César Augusto Mejía Anicharico. He is an influential figure in the Colombian music scene, working as a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and leader of the duo Mejía y Valencia. He has won numerous composition prizes in Colombia.
Catalina combines various genres and rhythms that are representative of the South American country of Colombia. In particular, cumbia, bambuco, guabina and traditional danzas from the Andean and Caribbean regions are at the forefront. Her album Los colores de mi ancestro reflects this musical diversity with an innovative approach that reflects her musical roots. In Colombia, the album was presented as part of two important events. The first of these was the 50th National Mono Núñez Competition in Ginebra, Valle del Cauca. The album was also presented at the Espacio Vasto in Pereira, a historic location associated with the renowned artist Hernando Hoyos Baena.
Catalina recently presented her acoustic album at the Weinerei in Nuremberg. The performance was recorded as a new production and will be released soon. The musical performance was accompanied by guitarist and singer-songwriter Sebastian Valdivieso from Pereira, who had traveled from Barcelona especially for the event. The concert formed part of a vernissage organized by Catalina in collaboration with the Colombian painter Liliana Martínez.
Previously, Catalina worked as an engineer in the development of cyber security technologies, as a scientist and as a business facilitator in different parts of Germany. When she is not composing music, she works as an IT project manager.
More about me
Catalina Mejía Rodríguez was involved in various research and development projects in hybrid vehicle communication and 4G technologies at research institutions such as the Fraunhofer Institute and RWTH Aachen University before working in the automotive industry in the field of cybersecurity technology.
She was a delegate of the Digital Security Group of the global consortium Automotive Association 5G, where she received the worldwide award for the best work of the year 2019 in Turin. Her latest work focuses on investigating the harmonization of cryptographic security standards for Europe, the United States and China.
She has been invited as a panelist by the Ericsson Research Center in Germany, the Center for Innovation and Technological Development of the UTP in Pereira and the Mobile Communications World Congress in Barcelona, among others.
She has also worked as a volunteer in Colombia in social development projects for young people and children, where she has led science and technology workshops in various initiatives such as Clubes de Ciencia Colombia.
In her free time, she crochets or writes stories for children on her blog.
Catalina received her Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering with honors from the University of Quindío in Armenia, Colombia and her Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Information Technology and Computer Engineering from RWTH Aachen University in Germany.
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