About The Artist
Subhira Quinteto is one of the main global music bands in Chile. It blends Indigenous South American Music with experimental and progressive sounds, incorporating elements of folk, jazz and contemporary art music. The ensemble comprises analog keyboards, piano and traditional instruments such as the didgeridoo (Rodrigo Cepeda), as well as violin (Jachi Prieto), cello (Francisco Martínez), flute (Ema Morales) and drum set (Rebeca Martínez). The visual component plays an important role in the work of the band as Subhira’s performances are often accompanied by screenings of documentaries about the lives of different cultural groups.
The soul of the band is composer, musician and environmental activist Rodrigo Cepeda, alias Subhira, who holds a Master of Arts in Composition from the University of Chile’s Conservatory of Music in Santiago. After more than thirty years on stage championing “wild contemporary world music,” Rodrigo has released 21 albums, and participated in hundreds of concerts and international tours. Since 2002, he has been exploring more aspects of trance (Transubhiriano). Cepeda says, “I use electronics here, and rhythms from Afro-Brasil, Arabic, urban and a lot from Chilean first nations, especially Mapuche and Aymara.” Cool stuff! … Subhira Quintet is a band that will surely warm the hearts of club-goers as well as fans of global music.