Everything you need to know about the Alturas International Music Festival

In 2014, an initiative that sought to bring closer, make known and integrate the music and culture of the mountains of the world had its first edition in Peru. After time and after the obstacles caused by the pandemic and the political-social upheaval in the country, the Alturas International Music Festival (FIMA) returns to face-to-face after four years since his last concert in the Peruvian capital. This time, the event has an important emotional charge because, in addition to bringing great representatives of contemporary folklore, it pays tribute to Rici Lake, promoter of the festival who died during the pandemic, this May 7 at the Grand National Theater.

The fifth edition of the festival should have been held in May of last year, but the difficult circumstances the country was going through led to the rescheduling of the free show called “Mountain Concert: Tribute to Rici Lake.” Directly from Europe, the Swiss experimental folklore trio Iheimisch, made up of singer Simon Felber, instrumentalist Dominik Flückiger and double bassist and sound artist Pirmin Huber, joins the Italian diatonic accordion star Riccardo Tesi to gift their talent. With the latter we chatted briefly.

As part of the movement folk revival In the 1970s, Ricardo Tessi set himself the task of rediscovering the accordion, expanding the vocabulary of the traditional instrument to the point of leading it to create more contemporary sounds without losing its link with its origins. Although the accordion comes from the Old Continent, its use spread to the American continent to give rise to rhythms such as Brazilian forró, Colombian cumbia, Tex-Mex and Quebec music. In this regard, the Italian musician points out that “I am passionate about folkloric styles, but now I am more interested in the evolutionary aspect of the instrument, new music, techniques and composition. The instrument has come out of the narrow circle of folk music and we find it more and more often in jazz, pop and even in conservatory music”. Regarding this meeting in Lima, Tessi mentions that he has been enriched by collaborating with artists of various styles and cultures, for this reason “This encounter with diversity is a richness for me, an opportunity to grow”.

The composer and researcher also says that this is an opportunity to fill the void he has regarding traditional Peruvian music. He only knows about herEl Cóndor Pasa”, to the drummer Álex Acuña and to the great Susana Baca, “whom I have seen in concert and whose many records I own”, he specifies.

For her part, the director of FIMA stresses that in difficult times “It has been demonstrated how important it is to continue promoting culture because it is culture that unites us and keeps us optimistic”. He also anticipates that the end of the festival will present three musicians, the Peruvians Freddy Castilla (charango) and Martín Venegas (percussionist), as well as the Italian singer-songwriter Maria Pierantoni Giua. Along with Tessi and the Iheimisch trio, they will sing an Andean theme, directed by the multi-instrumentalist Magaly Luque.