Music of the Americas: Chiloé

Tuesday, February 11, 10 am

Vale Zapata is a singer, producer, and composer of folk and popular music always linked to the guitar and vocals. Born in Concepción, she currently directs Ramito 'e murta, a folk group from Puerto Montt, a city just across Reloncaví Sound from Chiloé. The group focuses on rescuing southern music and valuing women as composers and creators. She is also part of Fundación Domo and Canal Criollo, a Santiago-based project dedicated to the compilation and preservation of folk and traditional music as well as the production of musical events.

Today we share "Tonada por desilusión," a peasant tonada composed in November 2024.

Wednesday, February 12, 10 am

Carla Catalán is a singer and performer of the guitarra transpuesta, a traditional way of tuning and playing the acoustic guitar that was developed in Chile over centuries, mostly by female guitarists. Originally from Santiago, Catalán currently lives in Quellón, a city on the southeast coast of Chiloé. She also collects folk music and teaches music in rural schools in the area. 

In 2018, she released her first album, La Cantora y el Payador... las dos voces del folklore—recorded with the payador Ignacio Reyes—in Chile and France. In 2020, she performed alongside Mon Laferte at the Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar, the oldest and largest music festival in Latin America, and one of the longest-running in the world. In 2021, she released Fuiste tierra, trigo y canto. During 2023, she hosted the radio show "Originarias" on Escena Chiloé. 

Today we share "Nguén de las plantas," a song inspired by friends who dream of creating a food park near a wetland in Quellón, a project that will create a forest that can feed the town.

Thursday, February 13, 10 am 

Cecilia Bahamonde is a singer, composer, and performer of folk and popular music from Chiloé. She lives in Aucar, in the north of the island, and works to keep the musical tradition of the region alive. 

Bahamonde has participated in several folk music festivals, including festivals organized by Fundación Domo and the Cantoras de Ancud. She won first place in the 2010 “Día de la Chilenidad” competition in Quemchi.

She sent us the traditional "Miren cómo corre el agua," a cueca inspired by love, which she learned from other musicians. The lyrics are popular in several regions, but in Chiloé it is sung to this melody. 

Friday, February 14, 10 am 

Maruja Navarro is one of the most recognized folk singers in Chiloé, not only for her beautiful and melodious voice, but also for being heiress to one of the richest musical repertoires in the region: that of her grandfather, Don Gerónimo Barría. Barría had the vision of instructing his children and grandchildren in the musical profession, and Maruja is a faithful bearer of this legacy. She has made this repertoire her own and has participated in groups, collaborated with other musicians, and performed on many stages in the region, including the three editions of the Domo Encuentro de Mujeres al Sur festival. She released her debut album, Folclor de Vertiente, in 2021. 

Today we share "Cada vez que te veo," a traditional cueca from Chiloé. Navarro is joined by Caro Guttmann and Dan Alexis Alor. 

The MetLife Foundation Music of the Americas concert series is made possible by the generous support of Presenting Sponsor MetLife Foundation.

The 2024-2025 series is also supported, in part, by the Howard Gilman Foundation, Augustine Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Mex-Am Cultural Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and Mid Atlantic Arts.