ENG: I am very grateful that my wife Jesika Paredes, a Bolivian music anthropologist, educator, and activist, has dedicated part of her exhibition about Andean music and flutes to the Musical Bamboos of the Bolivian Andes. She designed the showcase in the Center for World Music at the Univeristy of Hildesheim in such a beautiful […]
A Trip to the Zongo Valley
ENG: Before returning to Germany for the next six months, I visited my friend Don Alejandro, a chhalla bamboo collector (chhallero) in Chirimoyani in the famous Zongo valley. This valley close to the city of La Paz is known for its unique chhalla panpipe bamboo. Aymara musicians say about this panpipe bamboo that it has […]
Returning to Chuspipata after Six Years
ENG: After six years I returned to Chuspipata, which is located at the higher parts of the Yungas of La Paz at 3000 meter above sea level. Chuspipata is one of the recognized sourcing regions of tuquru bamboos (Aulonemia hirtula) in the Central Yungas of the Department of La Paz. My flute maker friends used to tell […]
Presentation in the Ecology Institute of UMSA and Thesis Proposal
ENG: I am very fortunate to have been invited for a presentation in the Institute of Ecology of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA). This presentation was meant for undergraduate biology students interested in working on a bio-cultural thesis between botany and music, which I would co-supervise. What is urgently needed is more taxonomic […]
¡El StoryMap ahora en Español!
ENG: Ready for tomorrow’s presentation at the Ecology Institute of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés: The StoryMap now in Spanish! ESP: Listo para la presentación de mañana en el Instituto de Ecología de la Universidad Mayor de San Andrés: ¡El StoryMap ahora en Español! Haz click para ver el StoryMap
Qina vs. Quena: A New Generation of Highland Flute Makers
ENG: A few days ago, I visited my friend Favío Mamani in his flute-making workshop in the popular neighborhood of Chijini on the western slope of the city of La Paz. I asked him to put a wooden (mahogony) embouchure support into a mama quena that I made and to tune it properly into a F natural […]
Estación Biológica Santiago de Chirca
ENG: Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Estación Biológica Santiago de Chirca (FB) in Sud Yungas province of La Paz department. I was invited by botanist and plant ecologist Silvia Gallegos, who leads the biological station and is responsible for the Yungas Restauration Project of the National Herbarium of La Paz and the Martin-Luther-University […]
CfP Music-Making-Materials Conference
ENG: Over the last months violin maker and expert in species conservation and sustainability in musical instrument making Silke Lichtenberg (Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Applied Sciences Cologne) and I were working together to organize our international online conference Music-Making-Materials: Natural Resource Use and Sustainability in Musical […]
Preliminary Checklist of Musical Bamboos
ENG: The National Herbarium of La Paz supports a preliminary checklist of musical bamboos of highland and lowland Bolivia. The reason for publishing the letter and checklist is related to conservation efforts and the Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) project of Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, Museo de Historia Natural Noell Kempf Mercado and Fundación Amigos […]
New Publication in Ecomusicology Review
ENG: Thanks to Aaron Allen for supporting the publication of a current research report with an interactive ArcGIS Story Map. The research report can be accessed through the Ecomusicology Review homepage. ESP: Gracias a Aaron Allen por apoyar la publicación de un actual informe de investigación con un ArcGIS Story Map interactivo. Pueden revisar el […]
The Musical Bamboos of the Bolivian Andes 