Pierr Padilla Vasquez (left) and his wife, 2019 apprentice Carmen Román (right), during their site visit. Photo: Julián Antonio Carrillo.

Pierr Padilla Vasquez

Afro-Peruvian Music and Dance

Afro-Peruvian Music and Dance
Pierr Padilla Vasquez poses while seated on a Cajón. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

Pierr Padilla Vasquez’s is a member of one of the guiding families for Afro-Peruvian popular traditions, descended from “The Patriarch of Afro-Peruvian Music”: Mr. Porfirio Vásquez Aparicio. As a child, Padilla Vasquez, played the Cajón with his uncles (renowned musicians Manuel “Mangué” Vasquez and Juan “Juanchi” Carlos Vasquez) and cousins every day. Often, they also sang serenades and played guitar. Not only does the Cajón represent, to Padilla Vasquez, his family and cultural identity; it also signifies the resilience of Afro-descendants in Peru, being a product of their ancestral memory and creativity.

 

Pierr Padilla Vasquez playing Afro-Peruvian Cajón, 2019.

 


Apprenticeship Program

2023

Afro-Peruvian Cajón
with apprentice Yussef Padilla Nuñez

Pierr Padilla Vasquez (right) and Yussef Padilla Nuñez (left) playing the Afro-Peruvian Cajón together. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

 

 

Yussef Nuñez, Padilla Vasquez’s son, will expand his knowledge of the Afro-Peruvian technique for playing and performing Cajón. He will learn the six most popular Afro-Peruvian musical genres: Festejo, Alcatraz, Landó, Son de los Diablos, Pregón, and Zamacueca.

 

 

 

 

Carmen Román. Photo: RJ Muna.

 

2019

Afro-Peruvian Dance
with apprentice 
Carmen Román

 

Padilla Vasquez trained his wife and apprentice, Carmen Román, in the Afro-Peruvian dance form Marinera Limeña.

 

 

 

 

 

Invest in California’s cultural wealth.

Every gift is a commitment to a culture bearer, and the people of California.

DONATE

Announcing the 2024 Taproot Fellows!