Los Llaneros (Los Yah-NEH-ros)

This South American ensemble specializes in the music of the Colombian/Venezuelan plains that surround the vast basin of the Orinoco River. The music of this geographically and culturally unique area evolved from the contact between nomadic Indians and Jesuit settlers five hundred years ago. Authentic “Llanero” music is rarely performed outside these savannas because of its difficult harp, cuatro, and percussion techniques, and hence it remains one of Latin America’s best kept secrets. Los Llaneros have won several awards at Latin American competitions, and René Devia, the ensemble’s harpist, is recognized as one of Colombia’s foremost specialists in Llanero music.

The Llanos (YAH-nos)

The Llanos 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.

The Precolumbian Indian tribes of the Llanos, which were descendants of Caribbean cultures, led a nomadic life and subsisted by hunting, gathering, and horticulture. Jesuit missionaries arrived in the Llanos beginning in the Sixteenth Century, followed by large-scale landowners and their cattle herds.