Margot Loyola

Margot Loyola Palacios (September 15, 1918 – August 3, 2015) was a Chilean folklorist, musician, dancer, and teacher. She is considered one of the most influential musicians of Chile, pioneering folkloric research and transforming traditional music education and performance.

Loyola was active as a folklorist, performer, and educator from the 1940s until her death in 2015. She published a large body of work dealing with the folk music and dances of all Chilean regions, most notably on the cueca and tonada.

Early career

Loyola was born in Linares, Chile on September 15, 1918 to Recaredo Loyola and Ana María Palacios. She studied piano with Rosita Renard and Elisa Gayán at the National Conservatory of Music of Chile, and studied voice with the opera singer Blanca Hauser. In 1936 the National Conservatory's director, Armando Carvajal, invited Margot to begin collecting folk music in the rural areas surrounding Santiago. She and her sister, Estela Loyola, performed as the sister duo Las Hermanas Loyola throughout the 1940s, singing and playing guitar for a range of traditional Chilean genres, including the cueca, tonada, and waltzes. During this time, she also composed songs with friend and poet Cristina Miranda.