Ben Strand/ Winonan

The International Music Series, a series put on every year at Winona State University and supported by the department of music, continued Thursday night with a performance by Calle Sur of South America.

Ed East, who was one half of the duet with Karin Stein, said one of the most important things about music are the traditions passed on through it.

East said,“Understanding the roots of any style music gives you a different perspective about the culture which it came from. Music has very heavy roots, and the music that has survived to this day is the most powerful.”

Winona State junior communications major Derek Wagner said he was glad he decided to attend the performance.

“I was not expecting such a cool performance or experience,” Wagner said, “but once they started playing, I was pretty surprised.”

Isaac Sammis, a music student said Winona State has the International Music Series to provide students with the opportunity to hear music from a variety of different cultures.

“It’s an opportunity for students and community members to step outside the perspective of Western music,” Sammis said, “and understand that our musical norms are completely different from others around the world.”

Previous performances have included music from India, Ghana and China. Lyz Jaakola will be featuring music from Anishinaabe Indian tribe on Nov. 20.

Sur’s performance included the oldest recorded song from South American culture, and Wagner said this performance was one of the most interesting performances he has seen.

“When you think about it, that music is from hundreds of years ago,” Wagner said. “Hearing it in the present day is pretty spectacular. I feel more cultured. Some pieces even gave me goose bumps while listening to them, which was pretty crazy.”

East said he has been playing this music for 13 years and said he enjoys being able to play different kinds of music and keep old music alive.

“Before getting into the deeper roots of Latin American music, I worked with other styles of traditional music like Afro-Cuban music,” East said.

East said it is important to keep up playing traditional music so it can appear in popular music today.

“It’s important to keep traditional music alive, because if someone can understand what makes traditional music great, they can apply it to today’s music to continue making powerful music,” East said.