Folk music of the savannahs of Colombia and Venezuela will waft over the hills of the San Jacinto Valley on Sunday, April 17, as the Hemet Community Concert Association offers a program by Los Llaneros and Calle Sur at the Living Hope Baptist Church in Hemet.
The Los Llaneros program explores the authentic style of the Llanos or plains, a geographically and culturally unique area in South America.
“The most spectacular instrument we will play is the 36-string folk harp,” Karin Stein, one of the ensemble’s principals, said in a recent interview. “It’s not the typical classical harp, as it’s very light – only 16 pounds – so it can be played in only a limited number of keys. It is spectacular in the way it is played. The harpist does lots of fast finger work, and when the harp-playing of Daniel Rojas is combined with the fabulous maraca techniques of Diego Mosquera, it is truly a feast for your artistic senses.”
According to the press release, its music evolved from the contact between nomad Indians and Jesuit settlers 500 years ago, and features characteristic syncopations and difficult harp techniques.
Los Llaneros performs with four musicians who focus on Columbian and Venezuelan music.
“It’s mostly cowboy music,” Stein said. “We guarantee the audience will leave with a new understanding of what cowboys in South America are all about.”
Some of the music also has Caribbean influences.
“We will bring along a bombo drum from the Andes Mountains,” she said. “It’s easy to travel with because it is lightweight, but it has a large and powerful sound and is terrific on the syncopated rhythms.”
Calle Sur involves only Stein, who is from Colombia, and Ed East, who is from Panama.
“Calle Sur has a larger variety of instruments and covers a larger variety of cultural traditions,” said Stein. “We also sing in three different languages. We will use the classical guitar, which has really become a folk instrument in the South American countries. And we have an Andean charango which is a stringed instrument that sounds like a mandolin. Add a quena, which is a flute, the Andean pan pipe and a classical flute, and our voices, and we are loaded with many sounds and colors.”
Stein wants the audience will take away an appreciation of the diversity of sounds and the variety of ethnic music they will hear.
“We will have a printed program, but we like to be able to add to the understanding of what the music is all about. And we hope the audience will participate, too. Much of the music is based on call-and-response folk traditions. It would feel strange not to have the village respond,” Stein said.
Los Llaneros and Calle Sur performed a popular program in 2005, said Diane Mitchell, artistic director of the Hemet Community Concert Association.
“Traveling with all those instruments is a real challenge,” said Mitchell about the group. “We will help them out by providing congas and the guitars so they won’t have to bring those on the plane.”
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