PARAGUAYAN PIONEER: ALFREDO ROLANDO ORTIZ
November 5, 2009
Alfredo Rolando Ortiz
I want to say a few words about Alfredo Rolando Ortiz.
I first heard about Alfredo around 1977, and he was famous even at the time in the harp world. I wonder how much of an impact he made on harpers in South America? I’m now pretty curious about what seems to be a “South American phenomenon.” This phenomenon also has another dimension: lots of young South American men seem to be playing the harp; something American men tend to shy away from due to a perception that the harp is too feminine. (However, it might not be just an American idea that “men don’t play harp. My friend Athy, from Argentina, has a slogan that “Real Men Play Harp.” More about Athy later, a wonderful player!).
I don’t know about you, but when I see masterful harp playing, the last thing I’m thinking is, “Oh, that guy is so girly,” or whatever it is men are thinking people are going to say. Music is music and I hope you have seen by now, if you’ve checked out some of my earlier posts, that the harp can kick butt.
Anyway, maybe Alfredo had a role in popularizing the Paraguayan harp or harp music in general in South America. What do you think? Here’s a taste of Alfredo for you:
Alfredo Rolando Ortiz
An interesting technical detail: when I met Mr. Ortiz, he had a unique style of fingernail. Half the nail was cut away so that he could play pedal harps with the fingerpad, and the other half was left long so that he could pluck the strings of the Paraguayan harp with the nail for the more traditional Paraguayan sound.
