La Chacana

Early Music and early Andean Music

Genesis of the ensemble La Chacana

More than ten years ago, Pierre Hamon’s tireless quest to explore humanity’s fundamental gestures and sounds, as well as the origins of music, led him to the soundscapes of pre-Columbian civilizations and Native American traditions. This journey was enriched by pivotal encounters and fruitful exchanges with musicians, researchers, ethnomusicologists, and archaeomusicologists, as well as with the Argentine filmmaker Juan Antin.

In search of a composer capable of integrating into his writing an imagination inspired by both Inca music and Spanish Renaissance music, Juan Antin entrusted him with composing the original score for his animated feature film Pachamama (nominated for a César Award in 2019). This musical creation, acclaimed by international film critics, marked a decisive turning point.

It was by returning to the source of inspiration for this film music that the ensemble La Chacana was born. Its ambition is to introduce the public, in a lively and sensitive way, to musical worlds that appear distant: on the one hand, the polyphony of the Iberian Renaissance; and, on the other, the soundscapes of pre-Hispanic civilizations, based on profoundly different acoustic and spiritual concepts. The ensemble also explores hybrid musical forms resulting from the encounter between Europeans and Indigenous peoples.

The name “La Chacana” refers to a very ancient sacred symbol of Andean civilization, closely linked to the Inca and pre-Inca cultures of the Andes mountain range. This Andean cross embodies a worldview that is both cosmological and spiritual. True to this heritage, the ensemble offers an approach that is historically informed by the repertoires of the Iberian Renaissance and the earliest collections of ancient music from South America and Mesoamerica. It combines this with the traditional practice of Andean instruments, as well as a vibrant creative process, fueled by imagination, centered on pre-Hispanic soundscapes.

April 2026