The Ensemble
Our ensemble Los Llaneros (yah-NEH-ros) brings to the stage the often energetic and sometimes haunting melodies of the Colombian/Venezuelan Llanos or plains that surround the vast basin of the Orinoco River in South America.
The Llanos (YAH-nos) is a geographically and culturally unique and little known area of Latin America, and its music evolved from the contact between nomadic Indians and Jesuit settlers starting about five hundred years ago.
Due to the distinctly characteristic syncopations and difficult harp and cuatro techniques, Llanero music is rarely performed in its authentic style outside of the region, and hence it remains one of Latin America’s best kept secrets.
Los Llanos
Los Llanos (los YAH-nos), meaning "The Plains," is the savanna region which encompasses the vast watershed of the Orinoco River. It unites eastern Colombia with the central third of Venezuela. This expansive and beautiful land is characterized by ample, open grasslands, and slow-flowing rivers and creeks flanked by gallery forests. The human population density in the Llanos has always been low, primarily because of its poor soils.
Traditional Native cultures of the Llanos, which are descendants of Caribbean cultures, have typically led a nomadic lifestyle supported by hunting, gathering, and horticulture. As is the case everywhere else in the Americas, however, their traditional ways and sovereignty have been hurt by the expansionist takeover of colonizers for over 500 years.
NOTE: A "Llanero" is a man from the Llanos, a "Llanera" a woman from the Llanos, and "Llaneros" is the term for all of the people from the Llanos. It literally means "people of the plains."
Colonization in the Llanos began with the arrival of Jesuit missionaries in the Sixteenth Century, followed by large-scale landowners and their cattle herds. Since then, the life of the Llaneros or people of the Llanos, has been closely tied to cattle ranching, despite the increasing and destructive presence of large-scale agriculture and oil extraction.
Over the centuries, the Spanish and Indigenous roots of Llanero music have been adapted and transformed into the highly syncopated rhythms of today, with very similar characteristics in both Colombia and Venezuela. Music continues to play a central role in the daily lives of Llaneros as they sing primarily about cattle ranching, nature, and love.
Map showing the location of the Llanos in northern South America.
The Musicians
The ensemble was founded in 1978 in Latin America. One of its founding members, Karin Stein (Colombian), still serves as the ensemble's main vocalist and ensemble leader. Other members (see below) include Edgar East (Panamanian) and harpist Daniel Rojas (Colombian), who perform with the ensemble on an alternating basis.
NOTE: Los Llaneros generally performs as a trio with a harpist. For large stages, master maraca player and percussionist, Diego Mosquera, joins us to form a quartet.
