Eduardo Carrasco

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Eduardo Carrasco Pirard (born July 15, 1940 in Santiago) is a Chilean musician, university professor of philosophy, and founder of the legendary Chilean folk group Quilapayún - and the groups musical director from 1969 to 1989.

A virtuoso of the quena and wind instruments and a distinctive bass vocalist of the group. He appeared as solo vocalist in many of the groups recordings, among them “Pregon Inicial” of the Cantata Santa María de Iquique; “Con el alma llena de Banderas” of the El pueblo unido jamás sera vencido album; and "Canción para Víctor Jara". From the beginning he proved himself as a prominent composer with pieces such as “El canto del cuculi” and “La cueca triste” - co-jointly with Víctor Jara – and later after acquiring formal training in the field of music he created some of the most significant work of the group, such as “Vals de Colombes”, “Elegia al Che Guevara”, “Ausencia” with Rodolfo Parada, ”Canción de la esperanza” and “Luz negra”. Carrasco forged the concept of “La revolucion y las estrellas”/(The revolution and the stars) which signified an evolution in the alignment of Quilapayún.

Carrasco wrote two book about Quilapayún (under the pseudonym of Ignacio Santander) and “Quilapayún, la Revolución y Las Estrellas.” In addition, to publishing numerous works of poetry, philosophy and his conversations with the Chilean painter Roberto Matta, he also wrote essays about Pablo Neruda and about Latin American music. Once Quilapayún was able to return to Chile from exile in 1988, Carrasco maintained that the true place for the group was Chile, since other group members needed to return to France, he decided to remain in Chile and leave the group.

In Chile he has held numerous posts: as professor of philosophy at the Universidad de Chile; as director in the School of Music of the "Sociedad Chilena del Derecho de Autor" and in the cultural division of the Chilean Ministry of Education. In 2003 Carrasco returned to the group and has since then taken part in tours and released a live DVD “El Reencuentro” capturing highlights of a concert held on September 11, 2003 with Quilapayún performing some of the classics of Quilapayún’s lengthy repertoire.