Marimba Player Receives National Music Award

Musician Ulpiano Duarte was honored May 29 for his famous marimba sounds during a ceremony at the National Auditorium in San José, where he received this year’s highest distinction from the Association of Music Composers (ACAM).

President Oscar Arias bestowed Duarte with the Ricardo “RECA”Mora award in recognition of his lifelong dedication to music and for works composed from November 2005 to October 2006, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

Duarte, from the northwestern province of Guanacaste, in 1969 founded Marimba Diriá, later declared National Marimba by an executive decree in 1974.

In 1975, he founded the country’s first marimba school in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, and later worked as a professor of music at the University of Costa Rica (UCR), the statement said.

Among his most popular works are “Nostalgia en la Pampa,” “Contra el Bramadero,” “Gotas de Lluvia,” “Santa Cruz de Fiesta” and “Canto a Mi Tierra.”