Since 2004, a music education professor at McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill. has been collecting and documenting the indigenous music of the native Kichwa people of the Ecuadorian rain forest. With globalization, much of Ecuador’s culture is changing rapidly and much of the indigenous music is in danger of being lost. Philip Wilhelm is on a mission to integrate the music back into the schools in Ecuador.
Wilhelm sat down with St. Louis Public Radio’s Julie Bierach to explain what is so unique about the music and why it should be saved.
Follow Julie Bierach on Twitter: @jbierach