Haillí-Serenata (2020)

Composer note
In October of 2011, my mother and I visited the highland city of Cajamarca, Perú, the site of the Inca Empire’s defeat by the Spanish in the northern Andes. The proud city’s mix of pre-Hispanic archeological sites with colonial religious architecture was the dignified backdrop to cantadores mestizos, or mixed-race singers, accompanying themselves on guitars while praying to ancestors. Their mix of Quechua, the indigenous language of the Incas, and Spanish is reflected in the title of this short work (Haillí means “prayer” in Quechua), a brief serenade to the past.

— Gabriela Lena Frank