Click image for song "Ambato"

The Ecuadorian folk band Tungurahua was formed in 1970, in Ambato, Tungurahua Province. The musical director and founder, Carlos Quinde, and co-founder, Mery Marcial, filled GoEcuador.com in on the band's history.

Las Tungurahuas, as they are known, is comprised of both a dance group and a folk band. Together, they have toured Europe seven times, an authentically Ecuadorian experience which has much impressed continental arts connoisseurs. In 2002, they took first place at the Folkloreadas 2002 Festival in Dijon, France.

Marcial is the band's primary composer. In the last CD Antología de la Música Ecuatoriana (Ecuadorian Music Anthology), half the compositions were penned by Marcial; the rest are anonymous compositions.

The CD is made-for-export, is sold only in music and folk shops in the United States and Europe. Regrettably, the band has learned that the local Ecuadorians don't value Ecuador's traditional music the way foreigners do, so they send the music to where it will sell.

QORIKANCHA Foundation: Promoting Las Tungurahuas and traditional cultural expression in Ecuador. The qorikancha word means route of sun.

The QORIKANCHA Foundation was created to promote and recover the art, culture and tourism values of Ecuador, and specially of Tungurahua Province, is charged with Las Tungurahuas work and development.

The foundation seeks to promote the diverse cultural festivals, education programs, cultural values, social development programs, and mixed race (mestizos) cultural expressions that make Ecuador so unique.

The foundation is restoring cultural traditions in rural towns where tourism has not yet taken hold. Folklore festivities with dance, music, theatre, paint, handcrafts and popular cultural expressions are all within the foundation's preview.

An Art Gallery, Regional Customs Museum, video library and library will be created as part of the foundation's important cultural promotions.

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Updated: 11/01/04