Eduardo Carrasco

Eduardo Guillermo Carrasco Pirard (born July 2, 1940 in Santiago) is a Chilean musician, university professor of philosophy, author, and one of the founders of the Chilean folk music group Quilapayún - and the group's musical director from 1969 to 1989.

Carraco studied at the elite José Victorino Lastarria Lyceum in Santiago and then entered the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile to study philosophy; he subsequently travelled to Germany to study at the Ruprecht Karl Universitat of Heidelberg. In 1964 he returned to Chile to continue his study of philosophy at the University of Chile and in 1965 he forms the musical ensemble Quilapayun with his brother Julio Carrasco and his friend Julio Numhauser.

Carrasco completed his formal study of philosophy in April 1970 when he submitted a thesis on Friedrich Nietzsche; he then commenced to study music at the National Conservatorium of the University of Chile until the Chilean military coup of September 11, 1973.

The years following the military coup saw Carrasco involved primarily in artistic and political projects. After the coup Quilapayún becomes the voice of the Chilean resistance and Carrasco tours with the ensemble which performs in the venues in the world, including, Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, the Olympia in Paris and in the Tokio Centre.

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 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.

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