Music Research Forum | Alejandro Ataucusi - The Peruvian Charango: Tradition and Innovation

Join us for the next talk in our music research series. The Museum will be open from 5.30pm with the talk starting at 6pm.

Alejandro Ataucusi – The Peruvian Charango: Tradition and Innovation

The charango is a small string instrument from South America, and it's mainly used in Andes music. This lecture will explain and showcase the unique techniques developed in the Peruvian charango tradition from different regions. Furthermore, an explanation on how the Peruvian charango is acoustically and aesthetically different from other charangos in South America will also be presented. Additionally, an introduction on the hatun charango and its harmonic possibilities will be showcased.

Alejandro Ataucusi is a guitarist, charango and hatun charango player, composer, educator, and band leader of Afro-Peruvian Jazz band Forbidden Tropics based in New Jersey, USA.  With the charango, Alejandro has performed  and given lectures at many institutions in the United States such as the New York University, Rutgers University, the University of California - Riverside, and the National Music Museum. In Europe, Alejandro has performed at the Museum of Musical Instruments in Leipzig, Germany; the Charango Festival in Vienna, Austria; and many festivals in Italy. With the hatun charango, Alejandro explores new harmonic ideas by playing traditional and non traditional charango music such as Bach pieces, Jazz standards, and his own compositions. In 2022, Alejandro was considered one of the "finest interpreters of the hatun charango" by El Peruano newspaper.

Alejandro is endorsed by Godin guitars, Hanika guitars, Udo Roesner amps, Aquila strings, and DR strings.

_

Image: Alejandro Ataucusi.