Perú, heart of the Inka culture, has presented us with a priceless gift: the musical group WAYANAY INKA. Founded July 4, 1984 in Lima, WAYANAY INKA has established a firm international reputation for being among the finest ambassadors of Andean music.
The group states its mission, purpose and intent thus:
Our intention is to express through our song, not only the customs, ways of
life, and images of the Andean culture, but also to reflect fully the people
who inhabit these lands, sometimes full of pain and sorrow, yet always with
their hearts full of hope. Experience has shown that the music of a people
reflects their innermost being; and this is why we feel compelled to allow
our songs, with their poetry, to become merged with our people's historical
journey.
Through remarkable talent, intense practice, intimate knowledge of their culture,
and, above all, passionate drive, WAYANAY INKA fills theaters and arenas internationally
while preserving down-to-earth humility and love for human contact at the
personal level.
Before the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas in the fifteenth century, Andean culture had evolved for thousands of years. Therefore, it is not surprising to find that there already existed a large number of musical instruments that had followed their own evolutionary path with the passage of time.
After the Spanish conquest, Andean man assimilated and incorporated in his
music and lifestyle instruments brought by the foreigners, using them as a
starting point to develop new instruments and new ways
to play them, thereby enriching Andean musical culture. WAYANAY INKA uses
typical Andean instruments. A brief description of each is given below. The
category of wind instruments includes mainly instruments of the siku (zampoña)
and quena families, but also contains the antara, rondador and ocarina.
String instruments include the charango, hualaycho, charanguita and ronroco. Percussion instruments include the bombo, wankara, chajchas, palo de lluvia and tinya.
Additional funding provided by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
San Angelo Museum
of Fine Arts
One Love Street
San Angelo, Texas 76903
Fax: (325) 658 - 6800
Phone: (325) 653 -
3333
e-mail:
museum@samfa.org