ANDEAN  MUSIC

The colourful array of notes and instruments that together form the rich tapestry known as andean music is not easy to define but is unequivocally beautiful to the senses.

The piercing, yet melancholic crying passion of the quena, the high pitch trill of hummingbird hands flying over the templed strings of the charango, the steady yet emotive rhythm of the guitar and the sacred pulsating sounds of the panpipes are held together with exquisite delicacy by the earthy thrumming tones of the bombo drum in a finely balanced symphony of sounds thousands of years in the making.  Telling us tales of power, love, historic and majestic beauty.  The proud music of a race as timeless as the altar stones of Kalasasalla or the walls of Machu Picchu bringing the joy, sadness and struggle of this proud people is the soulful essence of Andean Music.

Its objective is to soar as the spirit can,  as the condor does, taking the soul on a breathtaking journey of feelings and emotions. Asking us the eternal questions of man, giving us answers in our soul which were there all along. Taking us a step closer to the eternal empire of Mallku in our hearts and minds all of this with our feet firmly on the ground.  This is the power of Andean Music, it is the cultural expresion of a tired yet unvanquished race. In it, it has found the will live, its denial to die!  It is the living form of a more just and humane society soaring like the condor above daily routine and the injustice of a flawed world and addressing humanity and its interaction with a living enviroment.

In it, its spiritual strength will influence the lives of the ordinary people it encounters and like the rich colourful strands of fine wool in the tapestry of life it will weave wonderous patterns of understanding amongst so many races in this rich emotive and timeless continent that is now our home: MULTICULTURAL  AUSTRALIA.

Alejandro Rios.