María Cristina Gómez Rabito

María Cristina Gómez Rabito de González was a 20th-century harpist whose Paraguayan harp music won national and international recognition.[1][2]

María Cristina Gómez Rabito
OriginParaguay
GenresFolk, Latin
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsParaguayan harp
Years active1950s–2000s

Born in Paraguay, Gómez Rabito began playing the harp when she was 6 years old, and started playing professionally at the age of 7, becoming known as "La Princesita del Arpa India" ("The Little Princess of the Indian Harp").[1][2] In 1968, she formed a musical duo with Enrique Samaniego, with whom she recorded the album Arpegios Guaraníes.[2] Also in 1968 she became the first professor of the Arpa Paraguaya at the Conservatorio Municipal de Música de Asunción, now the Instituto Municipal de Arte (IMA).[2][1][3]

In 1969 she joined the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Asunción (OSCA), performing under the batons of the two great directors Don Remberto Giménez and Carlos Villagra.[2] In the same year, she also joined the Orquesta Folclórica Municipal conducted by Maestro César Medina.[2] In 1972 she joined the Cuarteto de Cuerdas del Centro Cultural Paraguayo Americano, performing for a long time in the famous "Tren Musical" ("Musical Train") playing venues along the central railroad of Paraguay from Asunción to Encarnación.[2]

Gómez Rabito died at the age of 68 in 2017.[1]

Honors and awards

In 1964, representing Paraguay, Gómez Rabito won the First Prize of the first Festival Nacional del Folclore in Santiago de Chile.[1][2] In 1967, again representing Paraguay, she won First Prize in the first Festival Latinoamericano de la Canción Universitaria in Santiago de Chile.[1][2] In 1972, she was honored for her life work at the Festival del Lago Ypacaraí and the third Festival Mundial del Arpa.[1][2][3]

References
  1. Falleció María Cristina Gómez, UltimaHora.com, http://www.ultimahora.com/fallecio-maria-cristina-gomez-n1080147.html, sábado 22 de abril de 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  2. Último adiós a “La princesita del Arpa India”, La Nación, 21 de abril de 2017, https://www.lanacion.com.py/espectaculo/2017/04/21/ultimo-adios-a-la-princesita-del-arpa-india/. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  3. Tributo a Maria Cristina Gomez Rabito | Digno Homenaje a Destacada Arpista, http://www.abc.com.py/espectaculos/digno-homenaje-a-destacada-arpista-1157242.html, 22 de Marzo de 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

Discography for María Cristina Gómez

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