The Ambassador of Peru to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Ms. Franca Deza Ferreccio, hosted an exceptional and unprecedented concert dedicated to 18th-century Peruvian music at the Church of Our Saviour in The Hague. The performance, presented by Musica Temprana, offered a rare opportunity to experience the musical heritage of colonial and post-colonial Peru through historically informed interpretation.
The event was warmly attended by ambassadors, diplomats, members of the Peruvian and wider Latin American diaspora, as well as many Dutch friends of Peru—an audience eager to discover and embrace this captivating repertoire. Musica Temprana, founded and directed by Adrian Rodriguez Van der Spoel, is internationally regarded as a leading ensemble in historically based performance practices.
The concert emerged from profound musicological research and meticulous reconstruction of scores. Some of the music was recovered from diaries or letters written by priests of the era, reconstructed from symbols or textual notations into full musical compositions. The repertoire spanned from medieval Spanish works from the time of Christopher Columbus to the vibrant popular music of 18th-century Peru. Much of it was originally written by priests, bishops, members of the clergy, as well as musicians from the broader population of the time.
The program bridged compositions from monastic life with folk rhythms of mestizo communities—revealing beauty and hardship, tradition and innovation, reflection and provocation. It offered a compelling window into the musical forces that shaped and transformed a civilization.
Ambassador Deza Ferreccio opened the evening and introduced the ensemble before giving the floor to this remarkable group of artists, led by Adrian Rodriguez Van der Spoel and featuring performers Luciana Cueto, Lucia Giraudo, Emma Huijsser, Álvaro Pinto Lyon, and Claudia Vélez.
