Argentine musician and composer Jorge Milchberg, who rose to fame after adapting and recording in the 1960s “El Condor Pasa,” probably the most famous Andean song in the world, has died in Paris at the age of 93, the Argentine embassy said Friday from France . , informs AFP, citing Agerpres.

Jorge Milchberg, who was born in Buenos Aires in 1928 to a Polish family but lived in France since 1955, died on August 20, but his death was only confirmed on Friday by his family and the Argentine embassy.

A world-renowned classical pianist and charango (Andean guitar, no) singer, the South American musician was for nearly 60 years a member and artistic director of Los Incas, the iconic Andean music group formed in Paris in the 1950s and which has supported numerous international tours, according to statements of the Embassy of Argentina in France.

The group Los Incas, also known as Urubamba, recorded the song “El condor pasa” in 1964, then again, with a musical arrangement by Jorge Milchberg and lyrics by Paul Simon, a version performed by the New York folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, under called “If I Could”, on their album “Bridge over burnt water” (1970).

Originally, the theme of “El Condor Pasa” was taken from a zarzuela, a musical theater piece of the same name composed in 1913 by the Peruvian composer Daniel Alomia Robles, but in an orchestral version.

Jorge Milchberg’s version for a small ensemble and Simon & Garfunkel’s title, which became a folk standard, contributed to the impressive international fame of the song “El Condor Pasa”, which inspired countless subsequent versions and helped to increase interest in Latin American musical styles.

The South American composer will be buried in the city of Tenis in the French department of Seine-et-Marne, the Argentine embassy reported.