American Melodies

Alexandro Querevalu will tour China from Dec 10 to Jan 26. The musician usually does his own makeup for performances and tries to portray a traditional Native American look.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"My great-grandfather was a well-known Native American musician who played the Andean harp. My father and my uncles were singers. I always remember my father singing beautiful melodies at home. My mother's cousins also performed traditional music," he recalls.

At age 8, he started playing the recorder. Later, at school, he learned to play the Andean quena. He got the second prize for his performance at the Festival of Andean Music in Lima in 1989.

At 18, he left for Poland, where he joined bands and played with musicians from different countries, such as Sweden and Germany.

He started performing as a solo artist in 2010.

He does his own makeup for performances and he tries to portray a traditional Native American look, he says, by painting his face in battle colors.

Chinese fans of Querevalu launched an account on Sina Weibo to promote his music in 2016. The account now has about 50,000 followers.

Beijing-based music promoter Huang Rong discovered Querevalu's music on the Chinese micro blog.

"I didn't know his name and where he came from until then. I contacted him online and bought his CDs from Poland where he lives. After listening to all of his music, I invited him to tour China," says Huang.

"The music Querevalu plays contains lots of history and stories, which fans - despite differences in culture - can relate to and share."