Music of the Americas: Summer Solstice and Guitars

Monday, June 22, 10 am

In his tireless quest for new sonic and symbolic languages, Ecuadorian multi-instrumentalist Curi Cachimuel creates memory and resistance, recounting the experiences of his Andean cultures. He also pays tribute to the transformative power of women—grandmothers, mothers, and daughters—who, through their daily labor and powerful voices, sustain and lead our collective struggles.

Inti Raymi, the great Sun Festival, resonates with songs, dances, and melodies that honor Mother Earth for the harvest and celebrate the power of the summer solstice. Music—the spiritual heart of this ancestral ceremony—accompanies the Kichwa peoples as they reconnect with their roots, keeping collective memory alive through the sound of instruments, voices, and the community's rhythm.

Tuesday, June 23, 10 am

Martín Jerez is a musician, composer, and cultural producer born in Palpalá, in northwestern Argentina. His work draws upon Andean folklore while engaging with a contemporary sensibility, integrating tradition, sonic exploration, and a personal aesthetic. Trained at the Conservatorio Provincial in Jujuy, he continued his studies in Córdoba and Buenos Aires. His musical language reflects influences from Ricardo Vilca, Jaime Torres, and Cuchi Leguizamón, projecting an identity that oscillates between the acoustic and the experimental. Through projects like Xuxuy, he develops a poetics in which territory, memory, and modernity coexist in expressive balance.

From Buenos Aires, he sent us this video of his original song "El amarillo."

Wed, June 24, 10 am

Brazilian guitarist Octávio Deluchi was born in São João del-Rei. He holds a doctorate from Stony Brook University and has premiered several contemporary works. An Augustine Strings artist, Deluchi is widely recognized for a stage presence described as both “captivating and dynamic.” He made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall in 2022 and returned in 2025 for a tribute to Leo Brouwer. A laureate of over 15 national and international competitions, including the IBLA Grand Prize, the Souza Lima Guitar Competition, and the Philadelphia International Music Festival, Deluchi continues to expand the reach of the Brazilian guitar. He recently joined the roster of the Grammy-winning label Kuarup with his latest album, Borogodó, placing him alongside historic names in Brazilian music. 

Beyond the stage, Deluchi is a prolific scholar and influential cultural promoter. He recently published Chiquinha Gonzaga: Guitar Arrangements through Les Productions d’Oz (Canada) and founded the SERTÃO Americas platform to bridge artistic and pedagogical exchange between Brazil and the United States. Currently, he serves as the director of the Mostra de Violão da Lira Ceciliana and teaches undergraduates at Stony Brook University.

From Brooklyn, he sent us this version of his arrangement of Chiquinha Gonzaga's "Oh abre alas!," included in his recently-published volume of solo guitar arrangements of the legendary composer's works for Les productions d'Oz.  
 

Thursday, June 25, 10 am

Nicolás Perri is an Argentine guitarist and educator dedicated to Latin American repertoire. He holds a Master's degree in performance of 20th and 21st-century Latin American music from the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. He has also studied with Eduardo Fernández, Eduardo Isaac, Juan Almada, and Norman Baroni and performed at venues across Argentina, including the Festival Guitarras del Mundo and Radio Nacional Clásica.

He sent us this version of “El cualunque,” is a work for solo guitar composed in 2000 by Walter Heinze (1943–2005), a native of Entre Ríos. The piece explores the language of Argentine folk music through a idiomatic and personal style. 

Friday, June 26, 10 am

Argentine guitarist Carlos Wernicke approaches music as a space for thought and attentive listening. His work is centered on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Renaissance repertoire, while embracing a wide range of traditions from the last six centuries, including medieval and classical music, tango, folk, rock, pop, and Latin American repertoire. His interpretations are in a constant search for beauty and the deepest expressiveness. Alongside performance, his artistic practice includes transcription and arrangement, research, composition, and teaching. It also extends to the creation of programs in which music enters into dialogue with history, the spoken word, and the cultural contexts that surround it. 

From Madrid, he sent us this version of the beautiful sixteenth-century anonymous song "Si d'amor pena sentís," from the Cancionero de Palacio. 

The MetLife Foundation Music of the Americas concert series is made possible by the generous support of Presenting Sponsor MetLife Foundation.

The 2025–2026 series is also supported, in part, by the Howard Gilman Foundation, Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, The Augustine Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, the Québec Government Office in New York, and The Amphion Foundation.