Melancholy and its Harmonies Shine at the «Reinterpreting the Folk Guitar» Concert at Padre las Casas Cultural Center

Original article: La melancolía y sus finares resonarán en el concierto «Reinterpretando la Guitarra Campesina» en el Centro Cultural de Padre las Casas

By Morín Ortiz

This spring of 2025, every Saturday, individuals from various communities in the La Araucanía region gathered at the Padre las Casas Cultural Center with their guitars. Tania Anguita, a folklorist, and Leonardo Matus, a composer, welcomed them as facilitators of the «Workshop on Folk Guitar or Transposed Tuning» to share their expertise on this melancholic tuning method, also known as cuyano tuning or sad transport tuning, which is commonly found in the southern fields.

Among the key informants for Tania and Leonardo are researcher Raúl Díaz Acevedo and cultor and researcher María Molina, who points out that «the transposed guitar or folk guitar is a living testament of past generations. It is a piece of yesterday that thrives today.»  

Leonardo Matus highlighted the «mutual collaboration» in helping those who found it challenging to execute particular tunings. As the workshop progressed, participants began to understand that each end has a special essence, inviting them to reflect on preserving the tradition they have revived.

In his words, this «awakens a tradition of the people connected with a context of great sacrifice, because the endings were socially linked to social and personal processes, evoking the ancient functions and domestic tasks of the past.»

Together, teachers and learners embraced a significant responsibility to «transmit this knowledge and give it the value it deserves, ensuring it does not fade away but instead resonates as part of daily life, just as it was with our grandparents.»

To conclude this process, they warmly invite everyone to the «Concert Reinterpreting the Folk Guitar» at the Padre las Casas Cultural Center. The event will take place on Saturday, December 6, from 19:00 to 21:00 hours. The program will feature Tania Anguita and Leonardo Matus, alongside master María Molina, folklorist Damari Brevis, and guitarist Claudio Águila, performing together with the students who have participated throughout this period.

Tania Anguita believes that this collective expression on stage represents «the collective interpretation of a shared song, a single music piece. Each participant brings their unique expression while respecting the melody and basic rhythm of each theme. The significance of bringing together cultors, folklorists, and guitarists lies in the awareness that musical roots are preserved in new wisdom, which nourishes the experience while giving birth to new sprouts of the same song.»

The workshop and the concert are part of the project «Reinterpreting the Folk Guitar in La Araucanía: An Exploratory Study of Don Abel Inostroza’s Guitars,» led by luthier Cristofer Valenzuela, who has previously reflected on lutherie in La Araucanía and its motivations: «The importance of knowing my predecessors and revisiting the interpretations made by Don Abel, particularly in using certain woods in crafting his guitars, as well as aesthetic pursuits, when he romantically customized his work with a brush and paint.»

This project is financed by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, Fondart Nacional, Artistic Creation, and is supported by the Padre las Casas Cultural Center.