Pepe Santana is an Ecuadorian-born musician based in New York City. He has lived in the United States for 38 years spreading the musical traditions of the Andes Mountains, which is his lifelong passion. Pepe plays over two dozen Andean wind and string instruments. In his commitment to sharing the vibrant traditions of the Andes, Pepe has performed in significant venues such as the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Alice Tully Hall, and Carnegie Hall among many others. His emphasis in age-old sounds and rhythms has defined him as a true spokesman of traditional Andean Music. Pepe has participated in major folk festivals in the United States and Canada. He frequently lectures at museums, music schools and folk societies throughout the country and abroad.

A window to the Music Tradition of the Andes Mountains
This presentation will consist of a visual review of the history of native Andean Music from Bolivia, Peru and Ecua¬dor accompanied by a live demonstration of several percussion, wind and string instruments. In the "interactive instrument-making workshop" segment, the participants will have the opportunity to build a pentatonic panpipe called palla and will also learn how to play simple Andean melodies. The participants do not need to know how to read music.

Talk about the cultures of the Andes
The artist explains and plays a wide variety of Andean musical instruments including panpipes, flutes, whistles, drums, etc. Participatory.

Pedagogical lectures and demonstrations about Andean Culture and Music.

• Slide presentation which covers history, geography, musical traditions, and activities of the Andean people.
• Maps and landscape views of the various regions where the music to be played originates. It provides a geographical and a historical perspective of the Andean cultures (duration: 12 minutes).

• Demonstrations of more than a dozen musical instruments, these include: percussion, wind and string.  The instruments are from various areas of the Andes Mountains.  This educational segment elicits participation  and hands-on activities.  Students are encouraged to play and render musical notes (duration: 40 minutes).

• Question and answer sessions (duration: 10 minutes).

Workshop on Andean instrument-making

includes the following:

• Item 1 (pedagogical lectures and demonstrations), plus the building of the pentatonic (10 plastic tube) panpipe.  It also includes learning how to play the instrument.

Note:  Each session should have a maximum of 25 students. Also, music teachers are highly encouraged to use music scores (provided by the artist).  These facilitate the teaching and learning of additional simple Andean melodies which could be used to perform in an assembly-environment. 

Workshop Requirements:

• Purchase of materials (one panpipe kit costs $8 each).  The artist can procure the kits.
• A flat working surface (30 x 24 inches) for each participant and a chair.
• A projection screen. All other equipment is provided by the artist.
• Duration: 2 hours.

Gabrielle Hamilton,

Director of Education & Public Programs

718-463-7700 x239, ghamilton@flushingtownhall.org

JiYoung Kim, Education Coordinator

718-463-7700 x241. jkim@flushingtownhall.org