This blog comments news about environmental and cultural affaires, festivals, music, musical instruments and history related to the chilean cityport of Valparaiso.
Besides the standard programme with local established bands for this year we did have a celtic fusion band from Santiago, Dana and two special guest artists.... they were the surprise for this year's festival, the well know world citizen folk musician Nano Stern and the sudanese folk singer, Ajak Kwai . Both were a blast for our festival....
posted by luchovalpo @ 2:36 PM
Upcoming/ Se viene FIMIV 2009 - Oct. 16-17 La Tertulia, Valparaíso.
posted by luchovalpo @ 11:26 AM
Our folk sessions at Pajarito's bar continue improving with visiting folk musicians like the basque melodeon girl players we had a couple of weeks ago and local newcomers who live our musical spirits playing and learning.... indeed it is the best of the times....
Everybody is welcome... More info & scores at: http://sessionsvalparaiso.blogspot.com/
Desde la noche de San Patricio se hemos mantenido semanalmente una nueva folk session abierta centrada en la llamada música céltica incluyendo irish, scottish, galician, algo de old time, klezmer, & folk chileno en el bar Pajarito, Salvador Donoso 1433. Cada Martes de 18 a 21 hrs.
posted by luchovalpo @ 4:45 PM
Some years ago I had written on my Hispanic citterns, or cistros. As today from left to right: Lonestar Santiago cuatro puertoriqueño, Don José cuatro puertoriqueño, Silvana laúd tiple, L. Aróstegui Granados tenor Laúd, Vicente Sanchís tenor Laúd, APC Coimbra fado guitar, Kirsinger Bandola, Bambuco bandola. When I started with a cuatro puetoriqueño as a tenor plectrum instrument to play along with my mandolin in the States 15 years ago, I never thought that through trade in and sales I would end with this picture of my current collection as today with a viola braguesa on the way.... and still looking for to complete it with another bandola, an octavina from Philippines, and it might be a laudon from Valencia, so if anybody has an older strange string instrument I am always available for trade/sale. Como siempre pueden contactarnos por instrumentos de cuerda metálica o de púa para canje/venta disponibles o a pedido. En este momento un laúd (oud) turco, mandola tenor italiana, mandola octavo Musikalia, & cuatro puertoriqueño.
posted by luchovalpo @ 4:36 PM
Tomorrow we will have the basque folk band Aire aire trikitixa Taldea from Euskadi at the cine arte in Viña at 18:45 hrs.
posted by luchovalpo @ 5:33 PM
In Valpo we celebrate St. John.....or better San Juan with fiestas celebrating the change of year. For us here is the longest night of the year... so tomorrow night the students and andean folk bands from the local Valpo's Catholic University will have their annual fiesta... There are other folk fiestas by the mapuche inmigrants from southern Chile who celebrates it a We tripantu in different neighborhoods and the asturian community who celebrates with dancing, gaita music and a queimada as noche de San Xoan next saturday night at the estadio español de Recreo.
posted by luchovalpo @ 5:02 PM
posted by luchovalpo @ 5:09 PM
Like in Europe this coming weekend we are going to have the Fête de la Musique, a world street festival done for the first time in Valparaiso being delivered by musicians using all available public space in streets and squares every June 21th.
posted by luchovalpo @ 4:38 PM
Bafochi is presenting us a wonderful show at the Valpo's municipal theater with over 140 musicians and dancers from 5 countries. It is a must you cannot miss.
posted by luchovalpo @ 8:48 PM
The tuna are a rather odd folk musical tradition born in medieval Spain and implanted in South America as Estudiantinas after the Figaro estudiantina tour of 1880s. As proper tunas they established themselves singing and serenating with mandolins, bandurrias, laúds, guitars and tambourines recreating this tradition around 1960s and, as a result today, we have dozens of universitarian tunas around the country. In the last couple of decades, they have had plenty of gatherings in different cities of Chile plus two annual tuna festivals during the summer in Iquique and La Serena. These festivals were the only ones where examinations or contests were looked after. Now, we have a new one, exclusive for universitarian tunas representing their schools and excluding estudiantinas. Next friday 17 and saturday 18 at the Viña del Mar's Municipal theather, 19 hrs. 
Tuna de Distrito PUCV-Tuna Universitaria de la Universidad de Tarapacá-Tuna de Ingenieros de la Universidad de Atacama-Tuna de Distrito de la Universidad de la Serena-Tuna Mayor de la Universidad de Playa Ancha-Tuna Universitaria de la Universidad de Valparaíso-Tuna de Magisterio de La Universidad Adventista de Chile-Chillán. More info: http://tunapucv.blogspot.com/
posted by luchovalpo @ 9:48 AM
The Charles Darwin's bicentenary also is being celebrated in our region, place where Darwin lived over a year of his 5 year experience around the world on board of the HMS Beagle... recording our nature as is was around 1834-35. So today the botanist Jorge Redón tell us something about this darwinian heritage after 200 hundred years of his birth.
posted by luchovalpo @ 9:18 AM
Gabriela Mistral was born in the Elqui Valley (Coquimbo) exactly 120 years ago . She was the first latin american woman to get the Nobel prize for her poetry.... and many times she was in Valparaiso, when this port was the gateway to get to central Chile... so was her public letter asking that in case of returning to Chile she would like to live in Valpo or its surroundings.... With my Celtamericana's friends we did record the musical soundtrack for a documentary film on her life and later a CD remembering her poetry and her figure as a woman, teacher, etc. and now two years later.... today is her birthday.... something to celebrate..
posted by luchovalpo @ 4:00 PM
Piping means sometimes to do a service for others.... so I do it regularly for church service in funerals, masses, and marriages, the firemen, and other benefits when requested.
From time to time with some of my friends from Remembranzas de Galicia pipeband informally (without uniforms and dancing group) we do play at gatherings, benefits, and other fiestas as we are requested to do it.... so it was the case last weekend for a benefit at the Locos x Viña.
posted by luchovalpo @ 9:22 AM
Since early March there is a new weekly open folk session focused on celtic music including irish, scottish, galician, some old time, klezmer, and chilean folk at the bar Pajarito, Salvador Donoso 1433. Every Tuesday from 18 to 21 hrs.
Everybody is welcome... More info & scores at: http://sessionsvalparaiso.blogspot.com/
posted by luchovalpo @ 8:37 AM
An amazing talk showing new tendencies for the making of classical guitars was done at the school of music of the PUCV by Ricardo Louzao, who came to Valpo to deliver two concert guitars to guitar players from that school.... just listening its wonderful sound and looking this balsa wood and carbon fiber cross bracing as compared to standard fan bracing, it makes a world of difference for these mecano pampa guitars.
posted by luchovalpo @ 8:14 AM
January and February are the months when most chileans take their summer vacations. It's the time when the chilean school year is already over. Crowds go to the beaches, and there are many festivals and gatherings all over the country. It also happens in city ports like Valparaiso, where you could notice large cruising ships arriving to port carrying foreign tourists to exchange flights, carrying them in short tours to the wineries, visits to Santiago and the Andes. Nonethelelss, most of these foreign tourists stay in Santiago and Viña del Mar. The reason, the assummed belief that because Valparaiso is poorer, with their shabby shanties around the hills, lack of major touristic facilities, and dirtiness, then it is a unsafe place for tourists. Maybe no more than any other major cityport.... not a touristic city as the selfdeclared neighbouring Viña del Mar, but it is in the cultural venues feature where Valpo is in real debt. As many local people travel for their vacations to other places..... you don't see much done in Valpo after the Carnavales culturales along with the fireworks at the bay at the eve of the new year.... January has a Tango festival worth mentioning, but February is a real empty black hole without much activity but for some Santiago's venues on tour..... this is exemplified by the almost non existent venues for the local municipal theater and that most of all local cultural activity is centered at the neighbouring Viña del Mar. Anyway, I was one of those travellers going southwards reaching Aysen in Patagonia where I spent over one month working and also attending to patagonian traditional folk festivals around Cochrane, Villa Cerro Castillo, and Coyhaique.
posted by luchovalpo @ 9:56 AM
This is part of our current surplus collection set for trading. From left to right: Lorenzo resonator tenor banjo, Don Jose Cuatro puertoriqueño, Musikalia octave mandolin/a, Gremlin/Musikalia tenor mandola, and a turkish oud. Possible deals to be considered are other plectrum instruments such as resonator mandolin, citterns, tenor archtop guitars, or bouzoukis. Some celtic woodwinds and bagpipes too. Contact: festivalpo@yahoo.com , 56-32-2799771 / 56-09-97641632. Nota bene: banjo tenor already sold.
posted by luchovalpo @ 2:57 PM
An unique mexican ceremonial ritual has been going on twice a day at the plaza O'Higgins trought this weekend. They are the voladores totonacos de Papantla as we saw it dancing yesterday....
The instrument used to set the whole ceremonial rite is a small cane tabor pipe and a small drum that is played by the tamborilero while dancing at the top of a single 25 m tall maintop trunk.
posted by luchovalpo @ 2:18 PM
It had been a while since this family programme was presented in the streets. So to celebrate Christmas the new city council administration got back la Calle de los Niños through five blocks of Pedro Montt Avenue.
with chinchineros and organillo players
children rolling skating
graffiting cartoons on the street
or mimic singing
posted by luchovalpo @ 7:16 AM
Over 2000 people heard Nano Stern, Manuel García y Chinoy singing their songs at Plazuela Anibal Pinto lastnight . It was a nice show by these three songwriters, all of it part of the Rockodromo programme 2008.
posted by luchovalpo @ 2:31 PM
As the end of the year is closing in graduation ceremonies are ubiquitous or almost everywhere. It is also the time of the year when the few bagpipers are required to play at these graduation ceremonies. Some schools such as the Mackay school require by tradition scottish bagpipers who besides one local piper are all members of the Santiago's Andes Highlanders pipeband. Other institutions use the asturian or galician pipers to fullfill the bagpiping requirement. So in the last two couple of weeks local bagpipers have been playing Auld Lang Syne, Gaudeamus Igitur and the like for graduations at primary schools, high schools and social academies where the piercing sound of the pipes is looked after to give a solemnity air to say farewell to the school year.
posted by luchovalpo @ 2:38 PM
Lastnight, there was a Service of Carols and readings for Christmas based on the traditional "Nine lessons with carols" service held at the King´s college chapel, Cambridge at now held at St. Paul's church, Cerro Concepción. The carols were sung by the school choirs of the local british school association with organ/piano accompaniment. Indeed, the atmosphere of the older anglican church, its acoustic and organ helped to keep this reading and musical service with a nice and homely feeling that helped to make it an oustanding service, endeavour organised by the local british community.
posted by luchovalpo @ 7:39 AM
Geologist trained as paleontologist, naturalist, & musician/organiser of folk festivals in Chile. Teaching geology, organising folk music venues, playing church, celtic and traditional folk music as member of Celtamericana, Sarmientos del Señor Choir, and Remembranzas de Galicia pipeband. More could be found at the following URL: http://profiles.yahoo.com/luchai1. Our current main working projects are: -Festival Internacional de Música Inmigrante de Valparaiso -Banda celtamericana -Clan celta -Shanties and plectrum instruments -Adoquin and urban geology
