Musuq Peru means “New Peru” in Quechua, the language of the Andes. It is a fitting title for a collection of music by Jimmy López, one of Peru’s most talented young musical minds, whose works I’ve had the pleasure to perform with orchestras like the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Born in Lima, Peru and having lived and studied in Peru, Europe and the United States, Jimmy’s music honors his Latin-American heritage while at the same time reflecting the multiculturalism and perpetual motion that shape modern life. Kraftmaschine (Power machine), inspired by Carl Orff’s approach to building musical structures out of basic rhythmical and melodic patterns, uses a wide variety of Renaissance, Baroque and modern day recorders and also incorporates Peruvian folk elements. K’asa, meaning “open space on a mountain” in Quechua, depicts the broad sense of vastness among the mountains and valleys of the Andes, but uses a musical language and organizational structure that is not related to the music of the area, but is uniquely Jimmy’s own. La Caresse du Couteau (The caresse of the knife) for string quartet is the musical study of the metaphysical, based on a graphic called the Enneagram—a nine-pointed figure inside a circle which conveys a system of knowledge about nine different ways of seeing and experiencing the world. The movements of Epiphany: Spark, Depth, Glow, Frolic, and Epiphany, take us through the internal process of artistic creation, ending with a moment of realization in which we, the listeners, put the “pieces of the puzzle” together. Jimmy López’ brilliant, fresh musical voice is a wonderful addition to the Caminos del Inka recording series! --Miguel Harth-Bedoya