Join us for a Friday night concert in the amphitheater featuring Ciro Hurtado, Peruvian born guitarist and composer. Ciro will perform a selection of original songs and compositions from his vast repertoire, including solo guitar works, and full ensemble pieces. His music while hard to categorize, ranges from lyrical songs to sophisticated classically inspired works, and is based on traditional Latin American rhythms emerging as a kind of Latin American folk jazz.
Ciro Hurtado is a Peruvian-born guitarist and composer whose work fuses Latin American traditions with contemporary instrumental, jazz, and world music. He began his career in Lima, performing widely in festivals, theater recitals, and community events during a period of revival in traditional Peruvian music alongside Rock & Roll influences. After immigrating to the United States, he studied at the Guitar Institute of Technology and performed internationally with the acclaimed guitar ensemble Strunz & Farah, appearing at major venues and festivals including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival in Canada, the Havana International Guitar Festival in Cuba, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and on tour in Peru. He also recorded the audiophile album Misterio for Water Lily Acoustics.
He later co-founded and served as musical director of the Latin American folk-jazz ensemble Huayucaltia, touring extensively across the United States and Peru and opening for artists such as Sting, Jackson Browne, Holly Near, and Carlos Vives. With the ensemble, he co-produced seven albums and performed at landmark venues including the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall, including collaborations with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. As a solo artist, Hurtado has released acclaimed albums including Guitarrista, Los Angeles Blues, Selva, Altiplano, and Paisajes, along with the single Cantando en el Camino. His recordings have charted internationally in world and new age music and have received major recognition, including a Latin Grammy nomination for Ayahuasca Dreams (2015), a ZMR World Music Award for Altiplano (2020), a Latin Grammy nomination for Paisajes (2024), a Grammy nomination for Best Global Music Album (Paisajes, 2025), and a Grammy nomination for Best Global Music Performance (Cantando en el Camino, 2026). His work as a composer includes scores for films and documentaries such as Baraka by Ron Fricke, Peru: The Royal Tour, and others. He is also a recipient of the Durfee Master Musician Fellowship. Ciro’s music is distinguished by its melodic depth, rhythmic sophistication, and seamless blending of Latin American roots with contemporary global sounds.
This program is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.