Canto!

Charo Durán
Sings South-American Folklore in Spanish & Dutch
Scroll Down
In the 1970's lots of South American people fled their countries, because of the unsafe environments due to dictatorships and civil wars. They were in search of a new and safer home in other parts of the world. One Bolivian man ended up in The Netherlands and found love in the capital Amsterdam.
As a child of two worlds, with a Bolivian father and a Dutch mother, Charo is always researching an essential human principle: where is my home and what does it mean to be home, where do I belong? Who am I, am I defined by my DNA, the culture I was brought up in, the country I was born in? Am I defined by my gender or age, the (un)conscious choices I make, what I (don't) believe? What defines a human being, where do we differ from each other and what connects us to one another?
After Charo graduated from the Musicaltheatre department of the Conservatory in the Netherlands, she eventually found what touches her heart and fits her like a glove: the South American music she grew up with as a child.
In search of her musical identity, Charo traveled the South American continent, which resulted in an online documentary series featured on YouTube: The South-American Dream. Watch it here.
Charo was inspired to introduce the rich musical folklore tradition of South America, into The Netherlands and the Flemish part of Belgium in her very unique way: she not only sings the songs in the original Spanish lyrics, but writes her own poetic Dutch lyrics to the music.
Her first solo performance "Como un río - Like a river" (2012) featured on many festivals, in small theatres and private events. Charo's second show 'Op zoek naar mi hogar - In search of my home' (2016) was successfully performed on festivals, up until the birth of her son Maël in the beginning of 2017.
Ten years after the death of the most iconic South-American Folklore singer, Charo performed "An hommage to Mercedes Sosa - The voice of South America" in 2019 and 2020 together with Chilean guitarist/singer Alvaro Pinto Lyon.
In the summer of 2021 Charo toured The Netherlands with her show "Un Amor Revolucionario - Latin American Folklore songs about a Revolutionary Love".
In 2022 Charo was a finalist of the Dias Latinos Award, where she performed with a mix of Spoken Word about her bi-cultural identity and folklore songs of Bolivia and Argentina.
In 2023 she will perform her new concert "Alma Andina", where the theme of bi-cultural identity plays a key role. Together with her musical partner Alvaro Pinto Lyon, she interprets the soul of the folklore songs of the Andean region in her very own special way, sung in Dutch, Spanish and Quechua, interwoven with storytelling and Spoken Word. Read more about it down here.
If you are interested in the concerts Charo gives or would like to acquire more information for a performance for your event, please contact through the form on the bottom of the page.