The Chilean connection

We’re in for a treat on Thursday, July 12, when Pascuala Ilabaca y Fauna take the Santa Fe Bandstand stage on the Plaza, kicking off the first of four performances centered around next weekend’s International Folk Art Market. Fauna is the four-member band of Chilean singer and accordionist Ilabaca, who specializes in her own energetic brand of music. Grounded in the traditions of her country’s folk traditions and street performers, Ilabaca also incorporates spices from India, where she has lived and studied, as well as a heady dose of dance music. On the cover are members of Fauna photographed by Carlos Ormazábal, courtesy Pascuala Ilabaca y Fauna.

Chile’s Pascuala Ilabaca has a reputation as a tremendously dynamic young musician. She and her band, Fauna, have evolved a singular music and a flashy performance style, but they also perform traditional songs by Violeta Parra and from the country’s folk canon. Ilabaca’s musical personality has also been shaped by studies in India; those flavors are more often heard from her other group, Samadi, but they also show up in a bit of Indian vocal percussion on the Fauna video “Manikarnika.”

“I lived for a year in India when I was eleven years old. We were there for my father’s work,” Ilabaca said. “Then I always wanted to come back, so after university I went back with my husband, who is our drummer and tabla player.” That trip was financed by the Chilean government as a reward for Ilabaca’s I revitalization of traditional sounds on her 2008 album Pascuala Canta a Violeta. “I studied there for one year, and then in 2017 I went to India again to study with my vocal teacher.” community celebration and artist procession; the appearance is cosponsored by Santa Fe Bandstand.

Ilabaca sings and plays accordion and electric keyboard; the members of Fauna are Jaime Frez (percussion), Christian Chiang (bass and flute), Juan Muñoz (guitar), and Miguel Angel Razzouk (saxophone and clarinet). “I never travel without them. We have been playing for almost 10 years. We are neighbors and we were students at the same university; they are so important in all my music. It begins with friendship and ends with a band. We love each other, which you can see when we perform.”

During her year in India, Ilabaca studied improvisation and the rhythms of that country’s traditional music. Following that immersion, she recorded two