Demetrio Ortiz

In 1937, he began his artistic career as a member of the group “Aficionados de General Santos”, where he played as a guitarist, singer, and actor. The following year, under the direction of Zoilo F. Cantero, he formed a duo with Demetrio Aguilar in the group “Ocara poty”. In 1939, both joined the group “Mandu a rory”, directed by Santiago Cortesi and José L. Melgarejo. In 1943, together with Ignacio Melgarejo and Digno García, he formed the “Trío Asunceno” and moved to Brazil, where they remained until 1946. Upon returning to Asunción on October 10, 1946, he faced the loss of his mother, for whom he had composed his first guarania “viajera”, titled “Mis Noches Sin Ti”, in February 1943 in Concepción.

In 1947, after the Revolution, the Melgarejo-Ortiz duo joined an artistic delegation led by Herminio Giménez, touring from the northeastern Argentina to Buenos Aires. There, the group disbanded, and Demetrio joined as a guitarist the ensemble of Félix Pérez Cardozo, a renowned musician in Argentina. During a performance in Córdoba in 1948, he composed the guarania “Recuerdos de Ypacaraí”, which gained international fame. Starting from 1950, Demetrio participated in several groups and eventually formed his own orchestra, dedicating himself to Paraguayan folk art with the support of his wife, Elida Maidana, whom he met in Buenos Aires.

His musical work was published by FERMATA, directed by his friend Moisés S. Brenner, known as Ben Molar. In addition to his music, he wrote numerous poems, some of which were musicalized, and a three-act play titled “Anivéna karaikuéra!, ñane retã rayhupápe”, which promoted Paraguayan unity and was premiered in 1954 at the Teatro Politeama in Buenos Aires. Demetrio was a pioneer in teaching folk dances in honor of his mother, who was a galopera, and taught guitar to many admirers of Paraguayan music. He was also an artistic advisor at the Colegio República del Paraguay. Additionally, he dedicated himself to painting and continued cultivating the arts until his last days in his local at the Peña Ypacaraí in Buenos Aires, where he trained and guided young artists.