Rumillajta

La Paz, Bolivia serves as home base for the five-piece ensemble Rumillajta (pronounced roomy-yaktee), whose performances channel the living traditions of Andean music. The group blends newly composed material with longstanding melodies, infusing both with a contemporary outlook that addresses topics such as external debt and the hardships facing Bolivian miners. Although Bolivian folk roots anchor their approach, the musicians also draw from wider Andean sources across the mountain range. Deriving its name from the Quechua term meaning “ruins of stone,” Rumillajta distinguishes itself through inventive vocal harmonies, dense instrumental textures, and intricate rhythmic patterns. Lead quena player and composer Adrian Villanueva constructs the majority of the ensemble’s instruments by hand; before establishing the group, he appeared with Bolivian ensembles including Los Trovadores de Bolivia. Completing the lineup are charango player and composer Juan Jorge Laura, lead vocalist and zampona player Nestor Tintaya, guitarist-composer-arranger and backing vocalist Juan Carlos Cordero, and zampona player-percussionist Max Cordero Ponce.