Celso Duarte (born June 1974, in

Villarrica, Paraguay Villarrica del Espíritu Santo (), is a city in Paraguay. Located in the middle of the Eastern Region of Paraguay, it is the capital and most populous city of Guairá Department. It is located to the center west of Guairá and is bordered to th ...

) is a virtuoso of

Paraguayan harp The Paraguayan harp is the national instrument of Paraguay, the result of the confluence of European and Guarani musical cultures. Derived from the classical angular harp, introduced during the Spanish colonization in the Jesuit Guarani Mis ...

and Mexican jarocho harp, arranger, singer, and multi-talented instrumentalist. Duarte has performed and recorded with

Lila Downs Ana Lila Downs Sánchez (born 9 September 1968 * *) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions and the works of others in multiple genres, as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporat ...

since 1998 and has also accompanied and collaborated with other artists, including

Susana Baca Susana Esther Baca de la Colina (; born 24 May 1944) is a prominent Peruvian singer-songwriter, school teacher, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and three-time Latin Grammy Award winner. She has been a key figure in the revival of Afro-Peruvian ...

Celso Piña Celso Piña Arvizu (April 6, 1953 – August 21, 2019) was a Mexicans, Mexican singer, composer and accordionist, mainly in the genre of cumbia, being one of the most important musicians in the style of "cumbia rebajada". Piña was a pioneer in ...

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

Mariza Marisa dos Reis Nunes (born 16 December 1973), known professionally as Mariza (), is a Portuguese fado singer. Mariza was born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique, to a Portuguese father, José Brandão Nunes, and a Mozambican mothe ...

Ramón Vargas Ramón Vargas (born 11 September 1960) is a Mexican operatic tenor. Since his debut in the early '90s, he has developed to become one of the most acclaimed tenors of the 21st century. Known for his most expressive and agile lyric tenor voice, he ...

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Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

and

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...

. As a solo artist, he has performed with his band at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

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Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette Str ...

and other historic venues. His first solo album, "De Sur a Sur (From South to South)", was released in 2006.

Early years

Duarte was born in Paraguay and raised in Mexico. He is the son of Celso Duarte González, one of Paraguay's leading harpists, and María Elena, a Mexican singer and pianist. His parents met in the 1970s while his father was touring Mexico with a folkloric ensemble. Duarte was raised in a musical family and started playing music when he was five or six. He later recalled, "My family, they are musicians, too. I started with my brothers, playing like a game." As a youth, he studied violin and classical music at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México's prestigious National School of Music. At age 10, he began touring with his family under the name "Los Duarte" in the United States and Japan. In 1984, the family, including mother, father and four children, appeared at the

Southwest Museum The Southwest Museum of the American Indian was a museum, library, and archive located in the Mt. Washington neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States, above the north-western bank of the Arroyo Seco canyon and stream. The museum ...

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, performing instrumental arrangements and four-part harmonies of rare Paraguayan music in traditional costumes. At the time, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' described the elder Duarte as "one of the foremost interpreters of Paraguayan harp music in the world today," and noted, "Music is a social activity in Paraguay as well as a profession, and Duarte and his family in particular demonstrate how music is integrated into family life."

Musical career and style

Duarte is a virtuoso on the Paraguayan harp and Mexican jarocho harp. In 1998, he met

while playing a festival in Oaxaca, Mexico, and since then has gained critical acclaim playing harp and violin in her band, La Misteriosa. Duarte made some of the arrangements and co-wrote the title track for Lila's 2005 Grammy-Award winning album "Una Sangre (One Blood)." He has also accompanied other artists, including

, Olivia Molina, and

. In addition to recording with Lila Downs, he has also performed on albums with

, Joe Vasconcelos, Charanga Cakewalk,

Sofía Koutsovitis Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. Sofia may also refer to: People * Sofia (given name), includes a list of notable people with the name * Sofia (Filipino singer), a bossa nova singer from the Philippines *Sofia (Swedish singer), ...

, and with

and

on "San Patricio." He also collaborated with

on the soundtrack to the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated film "''

Maria Full of Grace ''Maria Full of Grace'' (Spanish title: ''María, llena eres de gracia'', lit., " Maria, you are full of grace") is a 2004 Spanish-language drama film written and directed by Joshua Marston. The film was a US-Colombia co-production. The story fo ...

''." In his solo career, Duarte has showcased traditional Paraguayan folk and son jarocho (a musical style from

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

that draws from indigenous Huastecan,

Spanish Baroque Spanish Baroque is a strand of Baroque architecture that evolved in Spain, its List of provinces of Spain, provinces, and former Spanish Empire, colonies. History The development of the style passed through three phases. Between 1680 and 1720, ...

, and African influences). In addition, Duarte creates a new style of music by incorporating elements of jazz and world rhythms, including Brazilian and

Afro-Peruvian Black Peruvians or Afro-Peruvians are Peruvians of mostly or partially African descent. They mostly descend from enslaved Africans brought to Peru after the arrival of the conquistadors. Early history The first Africans arrived, as enslaved ...

styles. In 2006, Duarte released his first solo album, "De Sur a Sur (From South to South)", featuring his arrangements of son jarocho and Paraguayan folk songs. The United States release of "De Sur a Sur" was held at the

Getty Center The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, United States, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997, and is well known for its architecture, garde ...

in Los Angeles. While touring in support of the album, Duarte noted, "We're going to present the son jarocho in our own way, with rhythms from eruvian festejo, Brazilian

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

, and also a few harp solos from Paraguay, classics like 'Pájaro Campana' and others." A second solo album is to be released in April 2011. Duarte has toured with his band, known variously as the Celso Duarte Quartet, the Celso Duarte Sextet, and the Celso Duarte Ensemble, at leading venues in the United States, including 2007 performances at

in New York,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and the

in Los Angeles, and 2010 performances at

in New York, and the historic Capitol Theater in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

. In addition to performing and recording, Duarte also spends time researching folkloric genres that are in danger of being lost. Asked about his harp playing, Duarte said, "My harp is for me a magic instrument. You can feel the resonance in your chest, in your arms, in your body."

Critical reception

Duarte has been acclaimed as a harp virtuoso and one of the leading figures of world music. Critical comments on Duarte include: *Following a June 2004 concert with Lila Downs at London's

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

, the ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' noted that the show "centred on Celso Duarte's impassioned harp and violin." After the same show, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' of London wrote, "The best songs, by far, were those from Mexico in which she dispensed with keyboards and concentrated instead on her virtuoso harp and violin player, Celso Duarte." *After the release of his first solo album, ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

'' magazine wrote: "Duarte’s latest album, De Sur a Sur ('From South to South'), is the modern manifestation of Son Jarocho's characteristic style—amazingly nimble harp lines played at blazing speeds (“Apolonita”) while occasionally backed by traditional female folk singing ('Cascabel'). It’s an intoxicating mixture, and entirely different from other regional folk-music styles better known to North American audiences." *In announcing his appearance in New York as part of the 2007 Celebrate Mexico Now Festival,

called Duarte "charismatic, talented and deeply profound." *After a 2007 performance in

, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' wrote that the "virtuoso of the Paraguayan harp" had "captivated" the

audience. *At the time of a 2007 appearance in Los Angeles, ''

La Opinion LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'' described Duarte as "an extraordinary harpist" whose music "sounds so heavenly start as unprecedented." *In May 2010, Carnegie Hall announced Duarte's May 2010 appearance at the historic venue as follows: "Celso Duarte is heir to a rich South American and Mexican musical heritage. ... Mr. Duarte interprets songs from the jaranero movement and creates original versions of South American folk music, often integrating the rhythms and traditions of jazz and world music."

Discography

Solo

* De Sur a Sur (From South to South), 2006

Instrumentalist

, ''Border (La Line)'', 2001 (appears on) * Lila Downs, ''Una Sangre'' (One Blood), 2004 (appears on) *''

'' soundtrack, 2004 (collaboration with

) * Lila Downs, ''La Cantina'', 2006 (appears on) * Charanga Cakewalk, ''Chicano Zen'', 2006 (appears on) * Lila Downs, ''Shake Away/Ojo De Culebra'', 2008 (appears on) * Sofia Koutsovitis, ''Sube Azul'', 2009 (appears on) * Lila Downs y la Misteriosa, ''Lila Downs y la Misteriosa en Paris: Live à FIP'', 2010 (appears on) *

, ''San Patricio'', 2010 (appears on) *

, ''Sin Fecha de Caducidad'', 2010 (appears on) * Susanna Baca, ''Afrodiaspora'', 2011 (appears on) * Lila Downs y La Misteriosa (Sins and Miracles), ''Pecados Y Milagros'' 2011 (appears on)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duarte, Celso 1974 births Living people People from Villarrica, Paraguay Paraguayan guitarists Folk harpists 20th-century Paraguayan male singers World music musicians 21st-century Paraguayan male singers Paraguayan harpists