About Us

We started as Trío Raíces, and now we have guest musicians in our performances. We want to thank Juan Diego Pardo, a regular during our early days, and now Héctor Vásquez on violin, and Carmen Rodríguez de France on guitar, bombo and vocals.

Chrissie Forster

Chrissie was born in England, grew up in Canada, and finished Secondary School in Argentina. Chrissie's time in Argentina left a deep love for this country's folklore. She is a classically trained flute musician and has played with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra. Chrissie is a Spanish Language and Latin American Culture Instructor in the Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies at the University of Victoria, and a long-time radio host of "Postales Musicales de Latinoamérica" at UVic's radio station, CFUV101.9FM. She is Raices' lead vocalist, and plays the flute and guitar as well.

Diego Barrientos-Arenas

Diego Barrientos was born in Santiago, Chile and has been playing traditional Chilean guitar from a very young age. He began playing folk guitar at 10 years old, later studying classical and flamenco guitar.

Diego has a degree in music education and has worked as a music teacher for more than 10 years. Despite his studies in classical and flamenco guitar, Diego has never abandoned his passion for Latin guitar music and has created a fusion of various styles acquiring a personalized and different sound.

Diego also expands his sounds with others Latin American instruments like charango, cuatro, triple, requinto and bass.

Alberto Callo-Valenzuela

Alberto is originally from Cusco, Peru, and has been in Canada since 1988. Alberto grew up in a family of musicians, where he developed his love for music. Alberto has played in Victoria with Vientos del Sur and Ramis in the mid 90's and has been accompanying Diego with the percussion in various events in Victoria. Alberto is a long-time radio host of "Postales Musicales de Latinoamérica at the University of Victoria's radio station, CFUV101.9FM. Alberto continues the musical family tradition. His beautiful wife, Esther, and two daughters, Paloma and Sole, are also involved in music.