Community

Learn More About Los Mapaches

Los Mapaches was founded in 1998 as a spontaneous after-school class with teacher Lydia Mills.

One day, Lydia brought traditional panpipes called zamponas to school and began teaching traditional songs of the Andes. Children and parents were drawn to the music. Los Mapaches enrollment soared.

Today, Los Mapaches includes more than forty young musicians, ranging from kindergartners to high school students, who study and perform locally with Lydia.

The group's focus has expanded to include traditional music from other regions of Latin America beyond the Andes.

Members of Los Mapaches are proficient on a variety of panflutes, including the paya, antara and zampona. They also play the tarka, a wooden flute from the Andes. Other instruments include the quena and percussion instruments from the Venezuelan and Colombian coasts.

Vocal numbers are sung in Spanish  with some bilingual arrangements as well.

Los Mapaches recorded their first album in 2003. A second album was released in December 2006.

Lydia Mills grew up in Berkeley in a family of folk musicians and a community rich in musicial culture. At 18, she traveled for the first time to Latin America to pursue studies in traditional and regional music.

Since then, she has lived in Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Lydia has performed solo and with several ensembles over the years.

Los Mapaches is available to perform at schools and special events during the school year. Limited summer performances may also be arranged.

Watch a Los Mapaches Performance

To learn more, visit http://www.losmapaches.org/