Music has been part of Natalia Ramirez’s life since early childhood in her native Colombia. She began playing the violin at age 6 and performed in front of audiences as part of an orchestra. Between that and her extensive background in multiple facets of the music business, she seems to have the perfect skill set for an artist—except for one detail.
“I actually have stage fright,” admits Ramirez, who earned a 2017 master’s in Live Entertainment Management from the Frost School of Music. “And that’s why, even though I was a good performer, playing in front of people didn’t seem like what I should do. But I also knew music was going to be my entire life. So I became an audio engineer.”
To say she has prospered in that role is putting it mildly. Ramirez has amassed studio credits for artists including Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin, Alejandro Sanz, and many more, earning three GRAMMY Awards. She’s one of many Frost School alumni who are successfully working in Latin music. The Frost School’s graduates are a perennial force at the Latin GRAMMY Awards, and the school sponsors scholarships through the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation.
Ramirez recently expanded her career with a new job at peermusic, as A&R Manager for Miami and Puerto Rico, working under fellow Frost School alumnus Julio Bague. Peermusic is the world’s largest independent publishing company, and Ramirez’s job involves matching songs with artists as well as licensing music for other projects. She also continues to keep busy with studio work as a vocal tuning specialist.
“Artists will record multiple takes, and we take the best part of each phrase, syllable, breath, saliva, everything in performance and create a single take with the music and tuning,” she said. “It’s very artistic work, creating the perfect take with just the right background music. You have to use your ear to make something beautiful. Continuing to engineer and produce is a big deal for me because I want to stay current. That keeps me relevant.”
Ramirez’s introduction to the Frost School came through another alumnus, superstar producer Julio Reyes Copello, for whom she interned while an undergraduate at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia. Impressed by her work, Copello steered Ramirez toward the Frost School and associate professor Gary Wood’s Live Entertainment Management program. Wood made Ramirez the first teaching assistant in his program, and he praises her vision, diligence, and spirit.
“She was exceptional every single day,” said Professor Wood. “She assisted me in creating a culture of belonging, dedication, and professionalism. Natalia is an artist—not just in the literal sense of music and art itself, but in her capacity to make meaningful things happen that would otherwise be missing. Her ability to anticipate needs, solve problems, and bring attention to the small things that matter made a remarkable difference.”
The year Ramirez graduated, she won the Frost School of Music Outstanding Graduate Student Award for 2017. She hopes to continue setting an example and making a difference.
“I feel a responsibility to leave this industry a better place for women and people from different places,” she said. “I want to be a role model, let people know there’s not just one path. I want to influence people in the right way. And do fantastic great music too, of course.”
