Lydia Mills. Singer, songwriter and a reknowned music teacher for more than 15 years, Lydia is known for her work with the Latin American children's ensemble Los Mapaches. Lydia is native to Berkeley, California. She traveled and studied in Central and South America learning the native music first hand. Lydia co-wrote Mariposa Vuela, a collection of 20 traditional Latin American children's folk songs-book and CD. In 1997 Lydia co-founded and co-directed Viento a traditional community music ensemble from the Andes.
0
0
0
Pamela Darington. American multi-instrumentalist, Pamela Darington, has traveled extensively in Bolivia and plays strings, flutes, and percussion. Pamela, a fifth generation Californian, studied South American cultures and languages in college and has performed with several music groups in the Bay Area since 1983. In 1987 she co-founded Inkuyo, Music of the Andes, a well-known Bay area group in the late '80's and early 90's with whom she recorded four CD's.
0
0
0
Omar Sepulveda. While Omar is known for his consummate skill on the charango and other stringed instruments, he also plays flutes and percussion. He was born in Santiago, Chile and came to the U.S. with his family in the late seventies when they were exiled after the military coup. Omar began playing Andean music in San Jose, California in the early '80s with Venceremos, Kamanchaka, and the well-known Andean Group Sukay with whom he recorded three albums. While with Sukay, Omar traveled throughout the United States and Canada, participating in some of the most prominent folk festivals such as the Edmonton Folk Festival in Canada. In 1988 he joined Inkuyo.
0
0
0
Jorge Tapia. Jorge is a master flute player and an outstanding instrument maker. Jorge was born in Los Andes, Chile and arrived in California with his exiled family in the late seventies after a military coup overthrew the government in 1973. For him music is a way of remaining close to his Chilean roots. A founder of Kamanchaka, he has helped cultivate awareness of the plight of the Chilean people. Jorge's skills and high quality instrument fabrication are highly regarded among the Andean music community in the Bay Area and abroad. Jorge has performed with Kamanchaka, Inkuyo, and Grupo Raiz.
This quartet reunites original members of the group Inkuyo and seasoned Bay Area musicians, Pamela Darington, Jorge Tapia & Omar Sepulveda. They come together with Lydia Mills, who brings her voice to create an ensemble based on the traditional sounds of the Andes, yet moving beyond the mountains to the valleys & plains of the neighboring regions.
Andean music & culture
Although the Andes Mountains, once known to be the richest in gold and silver, were robbed centuries ago of their precious metals by intruders from other continents, the true riches of the Andes remain with its people. This treasure lies in its folklore and history: a wealth of tradition and music that dates back more than two thousand years to the civilization of the Collas of Tiwanaku. The descendants of this great culture, continue to preserve and practice the ways of their ancestors, celebrating the same festivals with the songs and fervor they have possessed for thousands of years.
Music was used as a medium to transmit history. As they had no written language they recounted events and stories through their music. Owing to this tradition, not only were able to preserve their history but also the music and instruments that were played in their festivals. To this day, music is a dominating force in their daily lives. Simple daily tasks are played out in music, from cutting a child's hair for the first time or planting and harvesting the yearly crops, there is a unique instrument and rhythm created expressly for each event. Closely tied to the natural world, Andean music is powerfully evocative.
Each song or dance rhythm is a treasure trove of cultural information and history. All are part of a rich folk heritage that brings together the indigenous music of the rural Andes with its wind instruments and links to the agricultural cycle and the influence of the Spanish conquistadors who came with their stringed instruments, Hispanic tempos, and the Catholic feast calendar.
