Uru Kehu (Rapa Nui)
Uru Kehu is the stage name of Allan Osswald Fuentes, a Chilean singer-songwriter based on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). He holds a degree in history and is working toward a doctorate in archaeology, and his research informs songs drawing on the history and cosmology of the South Pacific. His name refers to a Maori and Rapa Nui tradition of ancestors with light or reddish hair, a nod to his own origins outside the island. He founded and directed the Mana Ma’ohi Cultural Group and advises mainland Chilean ensembles on staging Polynesian performances. His albums include Mauru-uru (2022) and Repa Hoa (2026).
Featured Song:
Osswald wrote and co-produced “To’u Re’o” (Your Voice) with Juan Gutiérrez of Noemai Records, playing guitar and ukulele alongside Gutiérrez on electric guitar and Mario Yañez on percussion. Sung in the Rapa Nui language, the song sets a scene of wind, waves, and people gathering beneath the sun at Hana Rau, then turns inward as the singer listens for an ancestral voice: “And I gently close / My eyes / To hear you / Within me / Your voice / Resounding inside me.”
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