(Panama Digest
) Panama’s Eighth Annual Jazz festival kicks off January 10 with performances by leading international jazz musicians through January 15.
“Thanks to the vision and work of many, the Panama Jazz Festival is becoming an event that is a cultural reference in Latin America,” Danilo Pérez, Founder and Artistic Director states on the festival’s website. “For a week in January, Panama is the capital of jazz in Latin America and that is an achievement of all of us, for all of us.”
Performers include the New England Conservatory, Harlem String Quartet, Paris Conservatory, Black Tea Project, Fundacion Tonica of Mexico, Berklee Global Jazz Institute, Flamenco Jazz Daniel Garcia Trio, Claudia Acuña Quartet, Panamerican Percusion Ensemble, The Latin Side of Herbie Hancock with Conrad Herwig, Crossroads High School, Carlos Ubarte P. Mauriat Jazz Quartet, the Danilo Perez Foundation and trumpet player Víctor “Vitín” Paz to whom the festival is dedicated.
Pérez will present music from his grammy-nominated Providencia album with Ben Street, Adam Cruz, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Sara Serpa, Matt Marvuglio, and special guest Paoli Mejias.
Master classes with festival artists and auditions for admission to the Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, Conservatory of Puerto Rico and the Golandsky Piano Insitute will also be held from January 10 to 14 at the Atlapa Convention Center.
Founded in 2003, the festival supports the educational programs of Danilo Perez Foundation, which brings art and music to children from Panama’s disadvantaged communities.
Complimentary transportation will be provided from the Multicentro Mall on Balboa Avenue to the venues which include the National Theater, the Anayansi Theater, the Atlapa Convention Center and Casco Viejo’s Plaza Catedral.