Bolivia March 2025 – Traditional Music Project in La Paz
Over the past year, our music project in the La Paz region of Bolivia has continued to flourish. An increasing number of children are eager to learn traditional instruments and explore the rich heritage of Bolivian culture. Enrolment is steadily growing, and many of the young participants are now reaching impressive levels of proficiency.
The local adult community is also strongly supportive, playing a vital role in promoting and sustaining the program. Headteachers and educators from participating schools go above and beyond to allocate suitable spaces for practice and to incorporate music sessions into the school timetable.
Naturally, there are occasional challenges. Some children are unable to attend sessions during the harvest season, when their families require extra help, or during school holidays, when travel from remote areas can be difficult. Nevertheless, the overall progress has been remarkable.
Every special occasion—such as traditional fiestas—is celebrated with performances by the children, drawing large crowds from the community and enthusiastic applause. These events not only boost the children’s confidence but also elevate the popularity of traditional music and highlight the value of participating in the project.
One of the most important events of the year is the end-of-academic-year showcase. This year, performances were held both at the regional museum and in the city of La Paz. For many children, the chance to travel beyond their local communities and perform in new settings is deeply inspiring—it shows them that their culture and talent can take them far.
Looking ahead to 2025, we are thrilled to announce an expansion in class sizes once again. New sessions have been introduced to accommodate more advanced levels of learning, providing continued growth for returning students.
We’re excited to see how the project will evolve in the coming year and can’t wait to share more stories of success and celebration.
Children’s Instrumental Classes Project- December 2023
We are delighted that the first year of traditional instrumental classes for children in a rural part of Bolivia has been concluded successfully with two gala concerts: one in Palca and another one in La Paz in December 2023.
The concerts were a great showcase of what can be achieved in just one year of committed practice and through the boundless enthusiasm of teachers and students. The young people involved in this scheme commented how much they have benefitted not only musically but also more widely in their lives. For many the trip to La Paz was the first visit ever to a large city, inspiring awe and many positive emotions. Not forgetting anxiety and stage fright the whole experience brought a lot of pride, happiness and confidence to the entire group.
The courses were a total success in bringing the two communities closer together and reviving interest in the Bolivian culture and music.
The children achieved reasonable competence in playing on three different instruments Tropa Sikus, Tropa Tarkas, Tropa Pinkillos. Additionally, they have learned about Bambo Italaque and Wanara Pinkallada drums which were used during practice sessions and during various performances throughout the year.
Classes were oversubscribed from the moment they started with only a few students giving up the effort half way through. Many of the students wish to continue learning for another year to reach a new level of competence. MEDyARTE Charity is planning to help these aspirations by creating a new two-level course in the future.
Masterclass for children lead by the old music masters, members of the community
We strongly believe that reigniting cultural identity, creating a new purpose in life and opportunity to work together as a team will make these children much happier, fulfilled and strong adults who will be able to contribute in the future towards their communities.
Here is a brief overview of this year’s work
Children’s instrumental classes – March 2023
After 3 years of planning, interrupted by COVID pandemic, we finally managed to get this amazing project off the ground. MEDyARTE Foundation is delighted to hear, that, thanks to our support, talented musicians from the Bolivian National Orchestra of Native Instruments have been finally able to start running instrumental classes for children in 2 schools on the outskirts of La Paz.
The two communities, despite being located less than an hour drive away from the centre of the capital of Bolivia, are significantly deprived and offer very few opportunities to their young people.
As in many other parts of the world, daily life struggle means that the cultural heritage including traditional music, dance and artisanry has mostly disappeared here in favour of daily essentials. Bringing back traditional music marks for these communities an important turning point, makes them proud of their roots and traditions, knits them closer together.
Children as young as 5 years old have been invited to join the classes and were given free siku instruments made by the local craftsmen. So far, they have been showing a lot of enthusiasm for learning fuelled by the energy of wonderful young musicians who are their teachers. We really hope that this project will become a long term, successful addition to the life of Palca and Amachuma communities and that it will renew an interest in the old Bolivian music and instruments in the area.
La Paz Bolivia 2022
In May 2022 MEDyARTE Foundation visited La Paz in Bolivia to meet in person and develop working relationship with the representatives of the Orquestra Experimental de Instrumentos Nativos (OEIN). It was very exciting to finally get together after many months of planning on line and via social media. We instantaneously developed an excellent rapport and liking for one another. It was a pleasure to spend a few days together getting to know one another and learning about the Bolivian music.
We first thought of a project together nearly three years earlier at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. At the time the members of the OEIN were visiting Germany for a concert and as the world rapidly closed down in a response to a threat of an unknown then virus, the members of the Orchestra were “imprisoned” in a German castle for several months without any means of returning back home. This story became such a hallmark of a new, frightening era in the world’s history, that it appeared in the English national papers and came to the attention of the Founder of MEDyARTE Charity. This seemed to have been an opportunity not be missed as the work and the aims of the Bolivian orchestra were very close to these of MEDyARTE.
The OEIN was funded in 1980, with an initial support and under an umbrella of Universidad Mayor de San Andrés de La Paz. Soon however it become an independent entity. It gradually developed as a contemporary music ensemble, unique in its kind, as it works with traditional musical instruments from the Andes, bringing the ancient pre-Columbian Andean roots to the present, recognizing their individual values and taking up the challenge of creativity. All the instruments used belong to one organological group as per long seated tradition.
The repertoire includes the traditional music of the Aymara and Quechua communities of Bolivia, which is the pillar that supports the technique and philosophy of the OEIN, as well as avant-garde music, specially created for these instruments. Numerous leading contemporary composers have been fascinated by the possibilities of these instruments and written for the ensemble. The orchestra has appeared at festivals around the world, their performances being an impressive sight not only due to the shape and arrangement of the instruments but also their sound reminiscent of the forces of nature: the wind, sun and water.
The majority of the members of the orchestra are either music students or music graduates from La Paz Music Conservatoire.
Prior to the onset of the Pandemic the members of the orchestra have started several music workshops in impoverished areas of La Paz, with an aim of bringing back enthusiasm among the younger generation about the value of the traditional music in Bolivian culture. Unfortunately, all of these workshops had to terminate their existence as a result of restrictions imposed by government on face to face meetings during the Pandemic as well as the lack of funds which have been redirected from the Arts to the Vaccination Programme in the country. MEDyARTE plan was to reinstate some of these workshops in the suburbs and villages near La Paz, offering the opportunity to learn the traditional music to the most deprived communities and particularly to the younger children who then hopefully would carry their love for the music and tradition into the future.
During the visit in May, MEDyARTE representative was able to visit various potential locations for the workshops and discuss the practicalities of setting up such a programme. Foundation was very impressed by the commitment of the OEIN members to the idea of teaching young people, their enthusiasm and positive attitude. Couple of locations particularly stood out as the likely options for our programme including two schools, only 40 min away from the centre of the capital, but nevertheless in very remote and deprived areas.
One of them was a primary and the other secondary school where one of the EOIN members works a teacher and already voluntarily organises traditional music ensembles.
His young students were very keen to showcase their progress so far in the village green where they usually meet to play and practice together. It was a delight to see their happy faces, full of emotion and pride at the sound of the Andean music.
Also, members of the EOIN in La Paz allowed MEDyARTE to participate in their orchestral rehearsal, impressing with the power of the sound, beauty of the instruments and the enthusiasm of the members.
MEDyARTE Foundation is very hopeful that we will be able to start the Bolivian project in the spring 2023, with regular classes in both schools in the suburbs of La Paz, offering children an opportunity to learn playing on Sikus ( panpipes), Tarkas ( flutes) and pinkillos ( flutes). We are planning to purchase traditional instruments manufactured by a local artisan for the use of the pupils on a permanent basis. Once the students acquire an adequate level of ability they would be given an chance of joining a Youth Orchestra in La Paz with all the opportunities this would bring. Hopefully, in the meantime children and the young people participating in the programme would be able to perform in various celebrations in their