People
in the Andes (not all the people of course, but a whole lot more of the
people than in the U.S. where I was born) live with a huge awareness of
our interconnection with each other, the Earth and the infinite.
This awareness permeates everything the people do, every interaction with
everyone and with everything. This is often called, "the Andean cosmo-vision".
The door to this cosmo-vision flung open for me the very first time I heard
people performing the music of the Andes one sunny day by the water's edge
at Fisherman's Warf in San Francisco in 1993.
The
sounds of these unique instruments, played by indigenous people of the
land who have never forgotten what it is like to live in harmony with the
earth, resonated deeply in my soul and compelled me to learn everything
I could about the people who make this powerful music. I learned
to play some of the instruments, to speak two of the languages and became
a member of the Society for Ethnomusicology.
Now
I live in the Andes, making music and sharing rituals as well as daily
life with new friends in Bolvia and Peru. These treasures of the
heart I then share with friends around the world, such as you. If
you are unable to travel to the Andes and spend a lot of time getting to
know the people you can vicariously visit through my music CDs, art, and
writings. In this way I act as a bridge, or a door, between cultures
and people who may never have the chance to meet and get to know one another
in any other way.