Pascuala Ilabaca Gives Chile’s New Crop of Musicians a Feminine Feel

Pascuala Ilabaca’s first memory of Chile is a momentous one. Her parents, both artists, returned to the South American nation from Spain to help define its political destiny. A national referendum in 1988 held the fate of General Augusto Pinochet’s brutal reign at the ballot box. Though she was a child at the time, “I remember the day that people voted to end the Pinochet dictatorship,” Ilabaca says. “Everyone was in the streets, very happy and laughing.”

The plebiscite also allowed for a cultural rebirth in a land famed for its poets and folk singers. Exiled left-wing musicians, such as the legendary folk group Inti-Illimani, returned home before the historic campaign. And Ilabaca, an acclaimed accordionist and singer, focused on that memory of a country at a crossroads to become a leading voice of an exciting new generation of Chilean musicians.

“We have different roles,” she says. “For me, as a woman, it’s very important to show the importance of women in Chilean arts. I’ve been working for 12 years to change people’s experience of feminine art.”

She draws inspiration from two principal, if overshadowed, chilenas in history: Nobel Prize-winning poet Gabriela Mistral and Violeta Parra, the godmother of Latin American protest music.

Ilabaca’s recording career began in 2008 with Pascuala Canta a Violeta, a homage to the late folk singer’s lesser-known songs. The effort earned the musician a trip to India at the invitation of Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s first woman president. “I discovered that this division of the world between West and East is not true,” she says. By the time she released Diablo Rojo, Diablo Verde with her band Fauna, that ethos of universality was beautifully blended; the stirring percussion of the Andes meshes with jazzy flourishes, swaying cumbias and festive cuecas, the soundtrack to the national dance of Chile. The album also established Ilabaca’s lyrical prowess, expressing themes of feminism and love.

She continued her penchant for poetry with Rey Loj, a play on words that means “King Clock” and serves as the main theme for the album. “I was talking about how we suffer and are always connected to the clock as the king of time,” Ilabaca says. “But also, we have the beat of our heart and the pulse of our blood, which is different. Sometimes we need to connect with our inner time.”

An ambassador of contemporary Chilean music, Ilabaca brings her accordion and eclecticism to audiences around the world. She doesn’t find the assumed rigidness between stiff North Americans and expressive South Americans, and wherever expectations do arise, she views them as a challenge. “This is part of the stereotypes that I love to break,” Ilabaca says. “In my concerts, you don’t need to know any Latin dances. The key is to feel the energy of empowerment that we have in Latin America and dance as you like.”

Abroad, the musician also finds reaffirmation of what it means to be Chilean, a bit of an existential quandary for others during her university days. “We have a social history that has inspired people all over the world and excellent poets,” she says. “This makes me want to show that we are full of identity, not bereft of it.”

When Ilabaca visits the States, she’ll bring her latest studio album, El Mito de la Pérgola, in tow. “I’m very happy with how it turned out,” she says. “It’s my favorite.” It focuses on music borne out of social settings in all its variant rhythms, a subject of intense research for Ilabaca. It also holds a promise for a better tomorrow, not so different from the jubilance that formed her first memories of Chile.

“If we all join—artists and community—in the center of a public square, we’re going to change the world,” she says. “This is the meaning of the album.”

Pascuala Ilabaca y Fauna at Soka University Performing Arts Center, 1 University Dr., Aliso Viejo, (949) 480-4278; www.soka.edu/pac. Fri., 8 p.m. $26-$30. All ages.