On this Mother's Day we celebrate our matriarch! Edda Bonilla Peña

La Maestra Edda Bonilla Peña es cantante, educadora, compositora, danzante y gestora cultural. Edda nació en una familia musical y artística. En la década de 1960, su talento vocal la convirtió en la cantante principal del Conjunto Alma Jaujina (los Yana Vicus, las Hermanitas Bonilla), quienes obtuvieron elogios de la crítica y el público por sus composiciones originales e interpretaciones de conmovedoras mulizas, yaravies y huaynos. Una de sus grabaciones fue posteriormente recopilada por la institución Smithsonian en sus archivos oficiales de la música del Valle del Mantaro “De las montañas al mar”. Edda es también la compositora principal de la Misa Andina de Concierto de Kuyayky. En su trabajo como educadora, Edda trabajó con niños y numerosas comunidades locales de la Sierra Central durante 26 años incorporando el canto, la danza y la música andina al plan de estudios. Ha sido la fundadora de varios coros y promotora de importantes proyectos culturales en Jauja y en Estados Unidos. Por su trabajo con Kuyayky Edda ha recibido reconocimiento y se ha presentado en los escenarios del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, la Institución Smithsonian y las universidades de Pennsylvania y Harvard, entre otros. Licenciada en Educación en su natal Perú, Edda obtuvo su licenciatura en Administración de Empresas y Literatura Española de la Universidad Internacional de la Florida (FIU). Edda es co-fundadora de la Fundación Kuyayky y Directora del Coro Infantil y Juvenil Kuyayky Jauja.

With deep roots in the Andes of Jauja, Peru. Maestro Edda Bonilla Peña is a singer, educator, composer, dancer and cultural manager who has worked all of her life to improve the lives and recognition of Andean communities. Edda was born into a musical and artistic family, the Bonilla Peña ayllu. In the 1960s, her vocal talents made her the lead singer of the Conjunto Alma Jaujina (the Yana Vicus, the Hermanitas Bonilla), a group that earned critical and popular praise for their original compositions and performances of moving mulizas, yaravies and huaynos. One of her recordings was later compiled by the Smithsonian Institution in its official archives of Mantaro Valley music “From the Mountains to the Sea.” A prolific composer, she is the main composer behind Kuyayky's original Andean Concert Mass. In her work as an educator, Edda worked with children and numerous local communities in the Central Andes for 26 years incorporating Andean song, dance and music into the curriculum and creating a safe space for her students to thrive in a context where racism, colorism, and classism were rampant. Outside her classroom, her work to promote the arts continued, and so she became the founder of several choirs in Jauja, winning important local and national competitions. When she moved to the United States with her husband and five children, she was clear on what her family's mission would be. And so after performing on thousands of small and big stages, they founded the Kuyayky Foundation in 2003. Where she has been the most important promoter of the foundation's projects in Jauja and in the United States. For her work with Kuyayky Edda has received recognition and has performed on stages at the Inter-American Development Bank, the Smithsonian Institution, and the universities of Pennsylvania and Harvard, among others. With a degree in Education in her native Peru, Edda earned her bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Spanish Literature from Florida International University (FIU). Maestro Edda is fueled by her desire to not only pass down the knowledge that she inherited from her ancestors, but most importantly to make younger generations realize that they too can keep creating culture and knowledge.

Today our hometown of #Jauja, set in the central Peruvian Andes, celebrates another anniversary. Earlier this morning they recognized the work of our founders.
Allinpuni #kuyaykyayllu! Jose Hurtado