César Isella

Julio César Isella was born on October 20, 1938, in Salta, northwestern Argentina. Joining the renowned folklore group Los Fronterizos in 1956 at age seventeen, Isella's tenor voice and arrangements defined the group's golden era. In 1964, they recorded Ariel Ramírez's immortal choral masterpiece 'Misa Criolla', which conquered international stages from Carnegie Hall to the Vatican.

In 1966, Isella embarked on a revolutionary solo career, aligning himself with the 'Movimiento del Nuevo Cancionero' alongside Mercedes Sosa and poet Armando Tejada Gómez. In 1969, collaborating with Tejada Gómez, Isella composed 'Canción con todos' (Song with Everyone). Describing the indigenous and mestizo heart of the continent ('Todas las voces, todas / todas las manos, todas'), the song became the universal solidarity anthem of Latin America, officially recognized by UNESCO as the anthem of Latin America.

During Argentina's military dictatorship (1976–1983), Isella's music was banned, and he lived in European exile. Returning after the restoration of democracy, he directed the National Folk Music Festival in Cosquín, discovered a teenage Soledad Pastorutti in 1996, and served as vice-president of SADAIC (Argentine Society of Authors and Composers). Isella died in Buenos Aires in 2021, remembered as one of the most profound musical voices of the Americas.