PARAGUAY

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[Amy-in-PHX]

May 2010 Al Jazeera-English piece about the problem of landless people in Paraguayan rural areas, and pressures for land reform, follows.  In Paraguay, 1% of the population owns 70% of the arable land.




2008 BBC piece about deforestation of Paraguayan countryside, in favor of monoculture of soybeans:

[Amy-in-PHX]

National Anthem of Paraguay, in the Guarani language (I liked this one better than any of the Spanish versions I listened to, which did not show anything interesting on the video track - this has slides of great art):

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On the following site, you can see paintings of prominent Paraguayan artist Esperanza Gill, as well as postage stamps made from some of her scenes of old town Asuncion:
http://www.esperanzagill.com/

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Victor Espinola on Paraguayan Harp, with his brother Fito Espinola on Guitar, playing in Miami in December 2009.  This is cool; don't let the "harp" fool you:




Fito Espinola's bio from his website (http://www.fitoespinola.com):

Fito is one of the hottest young guitarist and singers in South Florida.
Of Guaraní Indians descendent, Espinola was born to a family of musical talents from Paraguay.

At the age of 14, he began to study at the Institute for Classical Guitar “Mangoré”
(Nickname of Agustin Barrios – The Greatest Paraguayan Classical Composer of all times), in Asunción.

In his high school years he sang and performed in festivals and cultural events, representing his school, all over the country.

At the age of 17, he formed his group called “La Bohemia”, where they mixed rhythms of traditional Paraguayan music with rock and new age. This was contracted to play in many different events within the country.

Later he formed part of a group by the name “Conjunto de Arpas y Guitarras Guaraní” where they traveled the country, also Argentina and Brazil.

At the age of 19, he went to Grand Caiman Islands to perform as “The Paraguayan Duo” with fella harpist Eugenio Leon for 4 years. Together they traveled various countries as Jamaica, Ireland, Bermuda and Panama. In the U.S., Espinola performed in St. Louis, Detroit, North Carolina, Las Vegas, Denver, just to mention a few.

In the year 2000, he moved to Miami, and together with his brother, they formed a group by the name of “Payé”, where they performed in local and national television.

Fito has played all over the world and is now based in Miami.     He plays a unique blend of Flamenco-pop
and Dance music.

He writes his own music and has had hits in both South America and Europe. His brother, Victor Espinola, is a featured harpist with Yanni.  (Victor's website is www.victorespinola.com.)

Fito Espinola has two albums “Nostálgica” and
“Sin Tí Soy Nada”. Now he is based in Miami working on his third one.

[Amy-in-PHX]

Roberto Perera was born in Uruguay, but he is another master of the Paraguayan harp.  Since Uruguay is not a Kiva country (yet) I'll go ahead and include him here.

[Amy-in-PHX]

Cayo Sila Godoy, is an accomplished classical guitarist from Paraguay.
Cayo Sila Godoy was born in Villarrica Paraguay on December 4, 1919. His mother and his uncles were talented musicians who exposed him at an early age to the piano, violin, mandolin, harp and tropical guitar. He studied music first with his uncle Marciano Echauri, and from the age of 16, harmony with Juan Carlos Moreno Gonzalez.

Sila left his home of Villarrica at the age of 16 to accept a scholarship at the National Music Conservatory in Asunción, Paraguay. By age 24 he graduated from the conservatory as a professor of music theory and musicology.

Following graduation he was awarded a grant to continue his musical education in Buenos Aires, where he remained for nine years under the tutelage of Consuelo Mallo López. During these years Sila concentrated on refining his technique into the virtuosity admired today.

In 1948, The Chamber Music Association from Buenos Aires gave him a diploma for the best concert of the season of that year. In 1953, as a request from the National Government, he went on a cultural and artistic tour, following the road of Mangore. He offered concerts, gave lectures and gathered a lot of information and documents on the great Paraguayan composer.

In 1959 Andrés Segovia invited Sila to study in Spain, with all expenses paid, at his renowned classical guitar course at Música en Compostela. For three years he sudied and traveled with Segovia.

In 1963 Godoy, at the personal invitation of President John F. Kennedy, first visited the United States to do a concert tour. During this trip he was featured as a broadcast soloist on the Voice of America and played with such notable American guitarists as Charlie Byrd, Sophocles Papas and Richard Pick. In subsequent US tours he has played in most major cities and in 1977 volunteered to tour Kansas, Paraguay's "sister state" where he also taught master classes at Wichita State University. More recently he has toured Japan (1980), Australia (1983), and has made numerous appearances in the Latin American nations.

In 1977, sponsored by the program “ Friends of the Americas “, chapter Paraguay –Kansas, he Developer activities in the state of Kansas, offering courses of specialization , speeches, and performances in the main cities such as Wichita, Topeka, and Lawrence.

In 1980, he traveled to Japan on a concert tour, and in 1983 to Australia, as well as other cities in America and Europe.

Among his recorded works the following ought to be mentioned : Sila Godoy in concert, recorded in New York, USA, in 1982; Sila Godoy, recorded in Australia, in 1983; Aranjuez and Madrigal, two volumes on cassettes, which are gatherings from his two previous recordings, in 1994; The Music of Agustin Barrios Mangore and Jose Asuncion Flores, a compact disc with a gathering of his best recordings in 1994.

As a researcher , he has published, together with Luis Szarán, the book “Mangore, Life and Plays of Agustin Barrios.“

He died in Asunción, where he had devoted his later life to lectures, speeches and didactic concerts, as well as offering radio and television shows.

The above were excerpts from the Wikipedia article, "Cayo Sila Godoy."


I was unable to find any recordings of Sila Godoy playing, but here is a guitarist playing a song he wrote, "Polca Paraguaya":

[Amy-in-PHX]

Tren Lechero - Juan Cancio Barreto (Some contemporary Paraguayan music)
(Uploaded to Youtube 19 Nov 2010 by musicadelpayaguay.com)