Ati visited OSU's Columbus campus from April 8-24, 2024 to work on the culmination of his multidisciplinary, sensorial musical piece titled YANA. Learn more about Ati's project, his background, the GAHDT Collaborative Centers Grant (ACCAD/CLAS) below.

YANA (darkness) is a musical piece written by Kichwa Otavalo composer Ati Cachimuel. This piece reflects, from a sonorous perspective, the musical tradition from the Andes which combines everyday sounds and noises. The use of traditional instruments such as wind instruments made from bamboo reeds and ceramic pre-Columbian instruments interface with programmers to experiment with the creation of a new form of conceiving of Andean music. 

YANA is based on a mythic being that exists in Kichwa culture as the foundation for the narrative thread behind the musical creation. This mythic being is present in the most important festivity for Andean populations—the Inti Raymi—as the spirit in charge of balancing the energies of this world. 

As a musical proposal, YANA involves two primary contributors: an Andean musician (panpipes, wind instruments, pre-Columbian instruments, and synthesizer) and a programmer (MAX/MSP). The use of this instrumental format aims to create frequencies that generate regenerative and healing sensations, similar to those felt during the Inti Raymi celebration. Beyond this, working in collaboration with ACCAD, the goal is to expand YANA into a multidisciplinary and sensorial piece that includes visual projections, dance, and olfactory stimulation. 

Ati Cachimuel, born in Ecuador, is a Kichwa Otavalo musician and composer. He comes from a family with a rich musical legacy that has been instrumental in strengthening the artistic and cultural expressions of Kichwa communities in Ecuador for 40 years. He pursued his higher education in Contemporary Music Performance at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Musical Composition at the Universidad Internacional de La Rioja. In the Ecuadorian music scene, he is part of significant groups that promote Andean music from a contemporary perspective, such as Yarina, Los Nin, Urkumanda, Chuskupura, and Awak Taki.

Creative Practice

His creative process draws from the sounds emerging in the landscapes of the Andean moors, integrating them into both academic and popular compositional contexts. As a composer, he has created works such as: 

• "El Despertar Andino" in 2017, an interactive sensory concert premiered in collaboration with the Confundamiento collective; 
• "Sara Pamba" in 2018, premiered by the chamber ensemble Awak Taki; 
• "Killa Raymi" in 2019, a concert for Andean ensemble and choir premiered by Urkumanda and the Mixed Choir Ciudad de Quito; 
• "Faccha Suite" in 2019, a composition performed at the 4th Meeting of the Young Orchestra and Choir Mitad del Mundo; 
• "Kacharisha" in 2023, an innovative concept of experimental Andean music also premiered by Urkumanda. 
• Additionally, he is working on "Yarina Sinfónico" during 2024, a work in progress that will be premiered towards the end of this year.

Academic and Research Practice

In the academic and research sphere, he is the founder and musical director of the Yarina Music School, an institution that promotes artistic education among indigenous girls, boys, and young people in rural areas of Imbabura. In 2021, he released the book "Andean Violin Method", the result of several years of research in which he compiles empirical learning methods of the violin in Andean music, to integrate them into an academic context through original compositions that facilitate the development of the technique of this instrument at an initial level.

Residency Artist

Ati Amaru Cachimuel

ACCAD Team

Norah Zuniga Shaw, ACCAD/Dance, Professor, Director for Dance and Technology and Chair of the Motion Lab
Co-Sponsor Livable Futures project
Vita Berezina Blackburn, Motion Capture Specialist, Motion Lab, ACCAD
Alex Oliszewski, Associate Professor, ACCAD/Theater
Jean-Yves Münch, Sound Associate, ACCAD
Elaine Smith, Administrative Manager, ACCAD
Michael Hesmond, Production Manager, ACCAD
Nina Wolf, ACCAD Graduate Associate, MFA Candidate, Design

Humanities

Faculty:
Michelle Wibbelsman, Associate Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Laura Siragusa, Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies
Brad Dubos, Department of English
Elvia Andia Grageda, Department of Spanish and Portuguese (Quechua language)
Carlos Rivas, Department of History of Art

Students:
Victor Vimos, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Ivan Ng, Department of Art
Cameron Logar, Kawsay Ukhunchay Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art Collection, Andean Music Ensemble, and Bio Chem Department
Arvcuken Noquisi, Sonic Arts
John Hurtado Cadavid, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Rob Lassche, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Zahra Rahnamaei, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Daphne Amir, Andean Music Ensemble and Math Department
Micah Unzueta, Kawsay Ukhunchay Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art Collection and Quechua Language Scholar
Anaís Fernandez Castro, Kawsay Ukhunchay Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art Collection, Quechua Language Studies
Josh Mink, Stamps Eminence Scholar (Spanish, Film, Theater)
Claire Kovchegov 
Alberto Vega Rivera, MFA Candidate, Design
Emma Burns, MFA Candidate, Design
Paitton Lewis, MFA student
Louis Polien, Andean Music Ensemble
Brenna Miller, Andean Music Ensemble
Justin Borden, Andean Music Ensemble
Ryan Christensen, Andean Music Ensemble

Singers:
Anais Fernandez Castro
Cameron Logar
Daphne Amir
+ 2 OSU choir

Dancers:
Jiara Sha
Jackie Coucherne
Elizabeth Sugawara
Mercedes Hicks

Musicians:
Paitton Lewis, MFA Student, Drumming