Compadre Huashayo

Inspired by the Ecuadoran huashayo, an individual appointed to hire musicians for a special celebration, Grammy-winning Western classical composer Gabriela Frank - a member of the multicultural and genre-bending Silk Road Ensemble - decided to recreate a traditional Western composition and use only South America's native instruments. The resulting piece, "Compadre Huashayo," is a lively and intriguing cultural blend of tone and style. "Compadre Huashayo" follows the story of this custom-designed composition, which fuses stylistic traits from two different musical traditions. Frank replaces the horn and violin sections with sampona and quena flutes, siku panpipes, guitar-like charangos and bandolins.