In remote corner of Bolivia, a Jesuit legacy of music

Published: 2008-05-21

CONCEPCION, Bolivia (CNS) -- Santiago Luzardi raises a hand, and strains of Antonio Vivaldi rise energetically from the violins, violas and cellos of two dozen earnest young musicians in the sanctuary of the old Jesuit mission church on the plaza. At a time when their peers are more likely to listen to rap or pop singers, the youthful string players seem out of step with the times. But they are part of a far older tradition, connected at the G clef with their indigenous ancestors and the Jesuit missionaries who brought classical music to this remote corner of eastern Bolivia. The scrubby, tropical region known as the Chiquitania, with its unpaved roads, cattle farms and sunflower, soy and sugar plantations, seems an unlikely place for a musical revival, but every town has a children's orchestra or chorus, and a biennial early music festival draws performers and visitors from throughout South America, as well as Europe and the United States.

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