ABOUT CONGRESO

Founded in 1969-70 in Quilpue, Chile, Congreso developed its style through its search for a fresh language to express Latin American popular music. Congreso's work unites traditional, indigenous rhythms with contemporary styles and jazz harmonies to create a distinctive, signature style. This eight-person musical ensemble has recorded fifteen albums, cassettes and compact discs during its prolific career; many of which have attained Gold Album status. The ensemble's music has also received critical acclaim nationally and internationally for its subtle, yet powerful arrangements and lyrics.

Congreso has toured nationally and throughout Latin America, North America and Europe and has participated in prestigious festivals and events such as the Amnesty International Concert, Expo Seville '92 in Spain, the Viña del Mar Festival (Chile), and the Montreal Festival in Canada. In 2000, Congreso performed in Cologne, Germany's Teatro Opera and, in 2001, at the annual Via Magia/La Red de Promotores Culturales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe arts market in Bahia, Brazil.

Congreso's work is hauntingly beautiful, weaving a multitonal tapestry of complex arrangements that brings together indigenous instruments such as the zampoña (pan flute) and the marimba with electronic percussion and stunning vocals. One could say that all of Chile lives Congreso's music, which never ceases to amaze audiences from around the world. Through its music, Congreso encourages audiences to discover Chile's diversity from the multi-tonal altiplano of the North and the larger cities of Santiago and Valparaiso to the forests and lakes of the South and the vast, rugged Patagonia region. Congreso's music breathes life into each of these diverse landscapes, transforming them into voices, rhythms, and sounds.

This 80-minute bilingual education program in which all of Congreso's members participate explores the extermination of the indigenous communities from the southern cone of the continent.

Directed by Francisco Sazo, this musical program incorporates musical and visual elements to narrate the lives of the Indian nations in Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia. This program stems from anthropological research based on documents, books and on the experience of visiting the places and territories where each ethnic group lived.

Iceberg Fires is divided into three sections

1. The geographical, anthropological, musical and cultural influences that contributed to the development of this program. A discussion of the ethnic groups that populated this region, their traditions, cosmology and the history of their extermination.

2. An in-depth look at each aspect of the following cultures indigenous to this remote South American region Yámanas, Selknam, Aonikenk, Kaweshkar.

3. Musical interpretation of fragments from the ballet score, Los fuegos de hielo (Iceberg Fires).

This program is geared toward high school and university-level anthropology, music, ethnomusicology and Latin American studies students.

The presentation of Congreso is one of a national series of such programs designed by the National Performance Network (NPN) to increase traffic and creative opportunities for contemporary, experimental performing artists of all cultural backgrounds in dance, music, theater, performance art, and puppetry. The NPN is an independently incorporated organization, originally founded by Dance Theater Workshop in cooperation with similarly dedicated arts organizations across the United States. The NPN is comprised of artists and arts organizations in 40 cities in 25 states across the country, which plays an important and innovative role in nurturing innovative work.