Biography
Raúl García Zárate (Huamanga, Ayacucho, Peru, 1 December 1931 - 29 October 2017) was a Peruvian guitarist of Andean music who used to work as a lawyer earlier in his life. García's family in Huamanga province had strong Andean musical traditions, playing guitar, mandolin, quena, and many relatives singing. He traveled to Cusco for musical education, then formed Dúo Hermanos García Zárate with his brother Nery García Zárate after moving to Lima. In Lima, García focused heavily on promoting traditional Andean and Ayacuchano music, at a time when rural Andean music was strongly rejected in the capital region. García's interpretations of traditional Ayacucho folk music mixed with classical guitar was released with apprehension initially, but soon broke sales records and ushered in a new wave of Andean guitarists.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.