Given a chance, most sounds---from the clatter of children playing in the streets of Indonesia to the rev of an old Chevy truck and the thunderous bellow of ice cracking below a frozen lake---are subject to sparking musical inspiration for Enstéreo. New Mexican-born Jaime Holguin is part producer, composer and arranger, stirring up a mixture that meanders through pop, folk, Latin and electronic distortion.

His music is a venture into "found sound" technology--organic sound of cross-cultural origins gathered and electronically manipulated to create a juxtaposition of traditional and cutting-edge. Enstéreo traverses all musical landscapes to arrive at its own unique "avant-barrio" sound. "I'm equally inspired and awed by the music of the Boredoms and Mr. Bungle as I am by Cuarteto Machin and Arseñio Rodriguez," says Holguin. He travels with his laptop computer, capturing any and all sounds that grab his attention. He prefers the isolation and intimacy of the recording studio where he can work with other musicians and utilize technology to stitch together the patches from his ever-evolving sound archive. A journalist by day, Holguin sees a lot of similarities between writing and making music. "As a writer you don't always know what the story is until you go out and talk to people and witness firsthand that which you are writing about," says Holguin. "Similarly, when making music you sometimes have to let the sounds of the street, of nature, of machines, of anything dictate the direction of the composition."

 

Mochi Parra is a Chilean singer and multi-instrumentalist. In 1985, she won Chile's Luis Cruz Martinez national medal of music for best young concert cellist. Currently, her work is based in the folkloric music of the Peruvian and Chilean coast, and is composed of a collection of exquisite works that are representative of the voices and the struggles faced by indigenous and native people throughout Central and South America. Instruments played by Parra include the cello, cajon, cuatro venezolano and charango. Currently her work is based in the music of the Peruvian and Chilean Coast. Directed by Master (Maestro) Carlos Hayre, her repertoire is composed of rhythms such as: festejo, lando, marinera, limena, samacueca, tondero and valses and incorporate the guitar, cajon, quijada, cajita, and voice. In addition to the cello, Mochi also plays cajon, cuatro venezolano, and charango.

The quality and comforting voice of Mochi Parra, invites us to travel through a beautiful gamut of songs from the Peruvian Coast, from the ancient repertoire and pioneer music ensemble, "Ricardo Palma", to the present with works from Andres Soto and poet Cesar Calvo, L.H. Salamayer, Chabuca Granda and Alicia Maguina.

Mochi has conducted workshops at Stanford University, San Francisco State University, and the American Museum of Natural History. She has also performed in numerous venues, including La Pena de Berkeley (California), La Pena del Sur in San Francisco, Stanford University, San Francisco State University, New York University, The Ethnic Dance Festival, the American Institute of Guitar, El Taller Latino Americano, Lincoln Center Midsummer Night Swing, Works In Progress at New York University and on the weekly television show Mi tierra, mi corazon, y su música at Telemundo studios.

Accompanying Mochi will be maestro Carlos Hayre, celebrated guitarist and recognized "maestro" of Peruvian criollo and Afro-Peruvian music. In the 1960s, he worked alongside the noted Peruvian musicologist and decimista Nicomedes Santa Cruz, recreating and introducing music pieces into the Peruvian repertoire that have become classics, such as "No me Cumben," "La Raiz del Guarango," and "Manuel Antonio." As a guitarist, bassist, arranger, conductor, director, and accompanist, he has recorded over 80 albums with major Latin American orchestras and recording stars including the renowned singer and composer Alicia Maguina with whom he set new performance standards. Carlos pioneered the use of the cajon as a percussion instrument in the vals, one of the most typical popular and folkloric musics of Peru. Additionally, he innovated this musical genre by introducing new harmonies and dynamics, which gave the vals new life and developmental impetus, thus shaping its contemporary performance style. Carlos is also a foremost interpreter of the marineralimena, recording the 1970 album La Marinera Limena es Asi with the renowned singer Abelardo Vasquez, and the previous generation of Peruvian masters that included guitarist Vicente Vasquez, singers Augusto Ascuez and Curita Gonzalez, and cajon player Canano.

The exact date of this concert is not known, but it occurred in the marked year around this time.