With few resources, but with a lot of enthusiasm to create a culture of concert music in Panama, the Panamanian cellist, Isaac Casal, along with other nationally and internationally renowned musicians created the Fundación Sinfonía Concertante de Panamá (FUNSINCOPA), in 2008.
The Alfredo De Saint Malo Music Festival (ASMF) was created in 2007 by Casal, through the guidance and support of musical institutions such as the Youth Orchestra of the Americas and the National Concert Association. To date, 16 editions of the festival have been held, even during the pandemic it was carried out virtually.
As part of the 17th Alfredo De Saint Malo International Music Festival, a tribute will be paid to Eduardo Charpentier de Castro and Eduardo Charpentier Herrera and will be held from June 21 to July 2, 2023.
This great cultural and artistic exchange seeks to bring together and impact around 500 national and international artists, children, youth, musicians, during 12 days of concerts at the Balboa Theater, the Anita Villalaz Theater, the National Library of Panama City and in the National Library of Boquete. In the same way, more than 200 hours of master classes, workshops and music rehearsals are offered and a great orchestra will be in charge of giving the closing concert, directed by the American maestro Alberto Bade, who is visiting Panama for the third time; Bade is the winner of 8 Emmy Awards and currently Director of Orchestral Studies at Miami Dade College, highlighted Anny Nuñez, Festival Coordinator.
Within the framework of ASMF 2023, intensive orchestra rehearsals will be developed, interacting closely with the local musical community and the public, as well as achieving exchanges for the professional development of our musicians and positively impacting cultural tourism and the economy of Panama.
The Festival Coordinator Anny Nuñez indicated that as part of the international artists that will be presented are:
Eric Silberger (violin, USA) 2011 Tchaikovsky winner; Guillermo Marin (clarinet, Colombia) Principal clarinetist of the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra; Flávio Gabriel (trumpet, Brazil) professor of the trumpet chair at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte and Second Winner of the 2010 Prague Spring International Music Competition; Thomas Shwan (piano, Italy- Germany/USA) First Prize at the World Bach Competition in Boulder, Colorado 2020; Liudmila Georgievskaya (piano, Russia/USA) professor at the Southern Methodist University and the piano faculty of the University of North Texas; Megan Barrera (soprano, Cuba, Puerto Rico) Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at the New World School of the Arts Miami Dade College; James Munro (viola, Australia), Anna Majcherzck (violin, Poland), and Alberto Bade (conductor, USA) as conductor of the Festival Orchestra, among others.
We will also have national artists and groups such as: Camerata Panamá, director Víctor Mata; National Symphony Orchestra, this time it will be conducted by Colombian director Cesar Leal; We will have the presence of the Panamanian singer Fernando Busto, among others.
It was reported that the Ministry of Culture of Panama is the main sponsor.
