Rodolfo Parada Lillo is a Chilean musician, composer, engineer and anthropologist. Parada joined Quilapayún in 1968, which made the group into a sextet - the formation which recorded the Cantata Santa María de Iquique. Upon joining the group he became the major solo voice of the ensemble (eg. in Dicen que la patria es , Por que los pobres no tienen , Plegaria a un labrador , Vamos mujer . A fan of the chanson française he decided to reduce his activity as a student leader while the group was at its popularity peak during the Salvador Allende Government. He first composed Ausencia for the group in their Quilapayún 5 album with assistance from Eduardo Carrasco.