For a period, she went into a semi-voluntary exile in Argentina and later Spain. During this time, she taught workshops in Romani communities in Granada, finding a shared language in the struggle of the flamenco people and the Afro-Peruvians. She famously said, "The drum has no passport; only memory."
While the modern music industry is often obsessed with viral hits and auto-tuned vocals, the work of Vicky Amper represents a return to the soul of sound: rhythm as a heartbeat, melody as memory, and performance as anthropology. vicky amper
Her album Perú: Tradición y Leyenda is often cited by ethnomusicologists as a foundational text—a sonic library that captures the specific intervals and percussive patterns of the northern coast. Perhaps the most dramatic chapter in Vicky Amper’s story involves her relationship with the legendary Chabuca Granda. While Granda wrote romanticized waltzes ( valses ) like "La Flor de la Canela," Amper was the one who understood the rhythmic complexity behind the melody. For a period, she went into a semi-voluntary
In the 1970s, Amper served as a consultant and collaborator for Granda’s ensemble. It was Amper who insisted on the authentic use of the cajón rather than the Western drum set. However, the relationship was complex. Archival interviews suggest that Amper felt Granda’s fame often overshadowed the anonymous Black and Indigenous communities who invented the sounds Granda popularized. Her album Perú: Tradición y Leyenda is often
Amper, alongside greats like Nicomedes Santa Cruz, recognized that the rhythms of the landó and the festejo were the DNA of modern Latin music. She traveled to remote villages, not as a tourist, but as a student. She sat with elderly community members, transcribing rhythms that had never been written down, preserving lyrics in Quechua and ancient Spanish dialects that were on the verge of extinction.