Illapu are a Chilean folk and andean musical ensemble that was formed in 1971 in Antofagasta

Antofagasta

Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2002 census, the city has a population of 296,905...

, in northern Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, by the brothers José Miguel, Jaime, Andrés and Roberto Márquez Bugueño. A later addition to the group was Osvaldo Torres. Illapu comes from the Quechua word meaning "Lightning Bolt". Their music was Andean folk. In 1981, because of the repression under the Pinochet regime, they were forced into exile - going first to France and later Mexico City. In 1988, due to the improved political climate, they returned to Chile. Their 1993 album (En Estos Días), which contained the hit single "Lejos del Amor", won 7 platinum records.

Formation: The Allende Years

Illapu was formed in 1971 in the northern Chilean town of Antofagasta

Antofagasta

Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2002 census, the city has a population of 296,905...

. That same year they performed in the “Festival del Salitre”/Saltpeter Festival in María Elena (a mining precinct) and won the festival's prize after performing Quilapayún

Quilapayún

Quilapayún are an instrumental and vocal folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential exponents of the Nueva Canción Chilena movement. Formed in Chile during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with the revolution that occurred in the popular music of the...

's “La Muralla”/The Wall. They were sharply criticized by the organiser of the musical event, Patricio Manns

Patricio Manns

Patricio Manns is a Chilean composer, author, writer, and journalist.-Infancy and youth:Patricio Manns was born in the rural town of Nacimiento, in the south of Chile on 3 August 1937. He is the son of a primary school teacher and an agricultural engineer of German descent...

, for interpreting someone else's composition. That same year Pato Valdivia joined the ensemble.
In 1972 they moved to Santiago de Chile seeking more performance and recording opportunities. They recorded their first album “Música Andina”/Andean Music for the DICAP label. Shortly afterwards they won the prize at the “Norte Andino Festival”/Andean North Festival in Calama

Calama, Chile

Calama is a city and commune in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. It is the capital of El Loa Province, part of the Antofagasta Region. Calama is one of the driest cities in the world with average annual precipitation of just . The River Loa, Chile's longest, flows through the city...

 interpreting a song composed by the songwriter, Nano Acevedo, “Dale Mañungo”.

In 1973 they performed for the first time at the prestigious "Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar

Viña del Mar

Viña del Mar , is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Its long stretches of white sandy beaches are a major attraction for national and international tourists. The city is Chile's main tourist attraction. Known as "La Ciudad Jardín" , Viña del Mar is a Chilean Municipality located...

" music festival. Their novel musical approach and aesthetics

Aesthetics

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...

 on stage gained them the recognition from music critics and praise from the general public. At this stage they began to be considered a new element in the “Nueva Canción Chilena”/New Chilean Song movement. The resources allocated to the arts and culture under the Popular Unity

Popular Unity

Unidad Popular was a coalition of left wing, socialist and communist political parties in Chile that stood behind the successful candidacy of Salvador Allende for the 1970 Chilean presidential election....

 government of Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....

 also allowed Illapu to fully develop their artistic potential.

Discography

• Música Andina (1972)
• Chungará (1975)
• Despedida del pueblo (1976)
• Raza Brava (1977)
• Canto vivo (1978)
• Grito de la raza (1979)
• Theatre de la Ville (1980)
• El canto de Illapu (1981)
• Y es nuestra (1983)
• De libertad y amor
  De Libertad y Amor (album)
  De Libertad y Amor was a music album released by the Chilean folk group Illapu in exile in France in 1984.-Track listing:#”De libertad y amor”/Of Freedom and Love/ De Libertad y Amor (Of Freedom and Love) was a music album released by the Chilean folk group Illapu in exile in France in 1984.-Track...
  
  (1984)
• Para seguir viviendo (1986)
• Divagaciones (1988)
• En vivo: Parque La Bandera (1988)
• Vuelvo amor... vuelvo vida (1991)
• En estos días (1993)
• De sueños y esperanzas (1994)
• Sereno (1994 or 95)
• Multitudes (1995)
• Morena esperanza (1998)
• Mementos vividos (2000)
• Antología 1971-1982 (2001)
• Illapu (2002)
• Vivir es mucho mas (2006)