Diana Delirio

In 2023, Diana Delirio moved to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island from Sogamoso, Colombia to study music in the SoPA program at Holland College. She had never been to Canada. In May of this year, she graduated, and was awarded the President’s Award of Excellence for her hard work and community approach to her time in the program.

In Colombia, at the age of ten, she joined the community band. She began on the clarinet but really wanted to play the saxophone, which she eventually moved to, though recently she rekindled her relationship with the clarinet. The community band gave her a sense of connection, joy, and collaboration and it’s where she built the foundation for the artist she is today. 

At the age of 17, she joined a group called Tropical Orchestra and this is where she first used her voice as an instrument. She began singing in public and it was obvious to her that it was extremely joyful and powerful. Her time in the Tropical Orchestra helped her appreciate the folk traditions and sounds of Colombian music; it gave her experience on stage and was pivotal in the development of her singing voice and expression. 

In 2020, when the pandemic shut the world down, like most of us, she developed a very bleak outlook. She found herself isolated and during this time, she suffered the loss of her father to Covid. This shook her and it gave her a deeper sense that death was coming for everyone. This headspace created an urgency in her and she channeled this energy into songwriting. She felt compelled to start writing songs as a way to work through her feelings of loss. She’d always wanted to try writing songs, and the uncertain future gave her every reason to seize the moment. 

For Diana, songwriting comes from the gut. Being vulnerable isn’t easy, and she knows that the gold is found in acts of patience. She’s working with a beautiful confluence of her homeland and her new home in PEI. Integrating herself into the music scene here has been vital, and she credits music for saving her life. She reached for it and dug in when she needed it and it rewarded her. She’s learned to take big leaps, to take action and be dedicated to what you do. 

Since 2020, Diana has been releasing original music. Prior to arriving in PEI, she had written, recorded and released a number of singles and an EP and since her arrival, she has released another four singles, one of which was a result of Music PEI’s Golden Ticket program. 

She has put together a very talented live band that consists of Matt Bridges, Mark Carr-Rollitt, Maya Marquez, and Nico Romero Dada. She is currently working on a second EP, and has just released a remix by AUSPEX for her latest single, Azul. You can find her music on all streaming platforms by searching Dianadelirio. 

Diana loves it here in PEI, and she is hoping she can stay. If you get the chance to catch her live, take it.