BIOGRAPHY IN ENGLISH

Puno, Peru-born singer and guitarist Roberto Pachari began his artistic career in the choir of Arequipa's San Agustin University choir. Pachari studied at Arequipa's Luis Dunker Lavalle school of music.

After finishing his engineering studies in 1983, he decided to travel to Lima, Peru's capital, to perform as an artist. They were tough times in Peru due to widespread terrorism. Despite this, Pachari earned recognition in almost every state of his country, as well as in Colombia. In 1987, he was chosen to take part in the “Latin American New Song Festival”, where he performed alongside singers such as Atahualpa Yupanqui, Mercedes Sosa and Leon Gieco of Argentina, Cuba's Pablo Milanes and Silvio Rodriguez, Vicente Feliu  and Peruvian artists Susana Baca, Daniel Escobar, Raul Garcia Zarate, Manuelcha Prado, Duo Arguedas, Inti Llimari, Quilapaun, Tiempo Nuevo and Celso Garrido, all of whom had an influence on his artistic carrier.

In 1990, he was invited to form part of the Peruvian delegation attending the Shauffhausen International Folk Music Festival in Switzerland. The festival enabled him to travel to countries such as France and Spain, finishing up his tour in London where he recorded at the BBC.

Upon his return to Peru, he graduated from university with a degree in geology. Since then, he has combined science with the arts. From 1995-99, he taught at the National University in the central Andes.

In 2002, he started up the Chuklla Association in Arequipa, involving top professionals whose sole purpose is to help the country. The project inclouded the creation of the Chuklla Cultural center nationwide, whose main goal is to keep Andean Folklore alive.

A characteristic of Pachari, who was mainly self-taught, is to have adapted to the guitar age-old melodies of the highland plain, or altiplano, in his own unique style, which have drawn critical acclaim and are shortly to be released in a CD.

El Peruano newspaper critic Omar Aramayo wrote the following:

``Pachari has captured the essence of the local airs of the highland plain of Callao, taking on a tone of mystery when performed on the guitar. These beautiful compositions are redolent with nostalgia, anxiety, premonition and joy. The native Baroque artists produced an enchanting art form, also to be found in the stonework and tapestries that decorate the local highland churches.

Pachari's style of fingering has an instructive reasoning. The guitar work of Raul Garcia Zarate, Manuelcha Prado and the Duo Arguedas, should be mentioned along with another name: that of Roberto Pachari.”

Since 2002, Pachari has been increasingly busy on the music front, and traveled to Africa in September.

Every year since 2003, he has organized the International Guitar Festival to commemorate the anniversary of his adopted city. He also programs concert with his guests in different cities in South America such as La Paz (Bolivia), Puno, Cuzco, Tacna and Moquegua (Peru), Arica and Iquique (Chile).