![]() Sumac appeared in a Broadway musical, Flahooley, in 1951, as a foreign princess who brings Aladdin's lamp to an American toy factory to have it repaired. The combination of her extraordinary voice, exotic looks, and stage personality made her a hit with American audiences. ![]() ![]() During the 1950s, she produced a series of best-selling recordings of lounge music featuring Hollywood-style arrangements of Incan and South American folk songs, working with Les Baxter and Billy May. Her fame in countries like Greece, Israel and Russia made her change her two-week stay to six months. A second tour took her to the Far East: Persia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma, Thailand, Sumatra, the Philippines, and Australia. She presented more than 80 concerts in London and 16 concerts in Paris. In 1950, she made her first tour to Europe and Africa, and debuted at the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Royal Festival Hall before the future Queen of England. Her first album, Voice of the Xtabay, launched a period of fame that included performances at the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall. She was discovered by Les Baxter and signed by Capitol Records in 1950, at which time her stage name became Yma Sumac. These early recordings for the Odeon label featured composer Moisés Vivanco's troupe Compañía Peruana de Arte, of 16 Peruvian dancers, singers, and musicians. She recorded at least 18 tracks of Peruvian folk songs in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1943. Probably Sumac's first appearance was on August 16, 1938, with Moises Vivanco in a religious festival at Callao. Mai Zetterling, Danny Kaye and Yma Sumac during the 1950s After being privately tutored from the age of 5, she entered a Catholic school in 1935. In 1934, she traveled to live in Lima along her relatives. Growing up with the air of the Andean mountains, imitating the birds and other animals, she was "unintentionally making" her huge vocal range. Her parents were the civic leader Sixto Chavarri (Cajamarca) and the schoolteacher Emilia Castillo ( Ancash). Then the family (a middle class one) moved to Cajamarca, where she spent her childhood. Sumac was born Zoila Emperatriz Chavarri Castillo on Septemin Callao. She has sold over 40 million records, which makes her the best-selling Peruvian singer in history. V included her into the one of the 9 international fashion icons of all times in 2010. According to Variety in 1974, Sumac had more than 3000 concerts "covering the entire globe", breaking any previous records by a performer. Afterwards she toured around the Soviet Union, selling more than 20 million tickets. In 1960 she became the first Latin American woman to get a phonograph record star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At the same time, she performed in the Carnegie Hall and Lewisohn Stadium. In "Chuncho (The Forest Creatures)" (1953), she developed her own technical singing, named "double voice" or "triple coloratura". In 1951, Sumac became the first Latin American female singer to debut on Broadway. Albums like Legend of the Sun Virgin (1952), Fuego del Ande (1959) and Mambo! (1955), were other successes. It sold a million copies worldwide, becoming an international success in the 1950s. Her debut album, Voice of the Xtabay (1950), peaked at number one in the Billboard 200, and its single, "Virgin of the Sun God (Taita Inty)", reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. She won a Guinness World Record for the Greatest Range of Musical Value in 1956. She has also been called Queen of Exotica and is considered a pioneer of world music. "Ima sumaq" means "how beautiful" in Quechua. Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo (born Zoila Emperatriz Chavarri Castillo Septem – November 1, 2008), known as Yma Sumac (or Imma Sumack), was a Peruvian-born vocalist.
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