The Panama Jazz Festival was founded in September 2003 by Panamanian Grammy-winning pianist Danilo Pérez.
In 2018, the Panama Jazz Festival runs with a body of 45 Coordinators and over 500 national and international volunteers lead by Executive Director Patricia Zarate Perez and Artistic Director Danilo Perez.
A Fulbright Scholar, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Cultural Ambassador of Panama, UNESCO Artist For Peace, educator, founder of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute at Berklee College of Music (MA, USA). Perez founded the festival with the mission of bettering the lives of people through shared musical experiences as listeners, on stage and in the classrooms. Perez's stated vision for the event is that: "By offering performances and educational activities of the highest order, as well as practical, hands on training in the music and entertainment business, the Panama Jazz Festival aims to inspire and educate while providing tools and opportunities to build a better future for individuals and their communities."
As such, and while the Festival annually offers a rich program of concerts by leading international jazz musicians, the emphasis is on music education. It has become the largest music education event in the region.
The Panama Jazz Festival provides a week of master classes by some of the finest institutions in the field, including Berklee College of Music, the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, and the New England Conservatory. The event has also become a center for auditions for admissions and scholarships for the participating institutions.
Other institutions that have participated in the festival include the Golandsky Piano Institute, the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, the Sienna Jazz Foundation, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the New York Jazz Academy, and the Paris Conservatory.
In 15 years, the festival has become a cultural tourism attraction that has already enticed to Panama more than 300,000 people from all over the world. The Festival has also announced more than 5 million dollars in scholarships and served more than 25,000 students from Latin American and the world.
Some of the artists featured in the festival include The Wayne Shorter Quartet, Herbie Hancock, Chucho Valdés Quartet, Dianne Reeves, John Patitucci, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding, Rubén Blades, Randy Weston, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kenny Barron, Nnenna Freelon, Mike Stern, Lizz Wright, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Dobbins, Stanley Jordan, Billy Cobham, and Ellis Marsalis, Jr..
The festival supports the year-round educational programs of Danilo Perez Foundation, which brings art and music to children from extremely poor communities in the Republic of Panama. The idea for the Danilo Perez Foundation originated in the 1965 when Danilo Perez Urriola (father of the pianist) started his educational programs with children of extreme poverty in Panama and created an elementary and high school curriculum where all classes were taught through improvisation, composition, and the performance of music.
Video Panama Jazz Festival
Featured International Artists
Maps Panama Jazz Festival
Associated schools and organizations
- City of Knowledge
- Panamanian Government: Presidency, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture, and Panama City Mayor
- Embassy of the United States
- Danilo Perez Foundation
- Berklee College of Music and Berklee Global Jazz Institute
- New England Conservatory
- Indiaand Israel Embassy in Panama
Clinics and special programs
An important part of the festival is music education, and all invited artists teach master classes in the "Music Clinics", where students from all parts of Latin America and the world come together to learn from the international masters of jazz. Among the international artists that have given lectures are Wayne Shorter, Chucho Valdés, Jack DeJohnette, John Patitucci, Joe Lovano, Randy Weston, Brian Blade, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Nnenna Freelon, Kenny Barron, Marco Pignataro, Eddie Gómez, Regina Carter, Steve Turre, Stanley Jordan, Janis Siegel, David Sanchez, Charlie Hunter, Tia Fuller, Ran Blake, Santi Debriano, Craig Handy, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ben Street, Pedro Reina, Bill Dobbins and many more.
The Panama Jazz Festival has also offered master classes on Panamanian Folklore, dance, classical music (with renowned national and international musicians and the best groups from the New England Conservatory), literature, production and engineering (thanks to the Berklee College of Music Production and Engineering Department), and many other subjects.
Volunteer International Artists and Clinicians. The Panama Jazz Festival also features a variety of volunteer international artists and clinicians including the Roni Eytan Quartet, the Lefteris Kordis Quartet, Retro Jazz, Naty Hernández, Cumbia All Stars, Tributo a Chile, Cesar López, Efren Ramírez, Tito Medina Jiménez, Javier Arau, Willi Panamá, Kevin Harris, Ed Harlow, Katie Hattier, Dra. Marixa Lasso, Beto Arcos, Bosquejo en Riesgo and more.
National Artists. The festival collaborates with the most highly praised national artists including Carlos Agrazal, Luis Carlos Pérez, Panama Jazz All Stars, Los Beachers, Joshue Ashby & C3 Project, Omar Diaz & his group Déde, Black Tea Project, Afrodisíaco, Karla Lamboglia, Ricardo Pinzón, Los Nietos del Jazz, Ruben Amador y Yahuba, German Pinzon Jimenez, Shuffle Demons, Tambo Jazz Collective, La Colectiva, Proyecto Shuruka, Pureza Natural, Josean Jacobo & Tumbao, Digger Descendants and more.
Panamanian Scholars. In the annual Symposium of AfroPanamanian Traditions, the festival includes scholars such as Dr. Gerardo Maloney, Mario García Hudson, Francisco Paz De La Rosa, Victoriano Arturo Gavidia, Leslie Georges, and others.
Music Therapy Symposium
The Music Therapy Symposium was founded in January 2013 by Chilean saxophonist, music therapist and Executive Director of the Panama Jazz Festival Patricia Zarate. The mission of the Latin American Symposium on Music Therapy is the dissemination of the theory and practice of music therapy in Latin America.
Auditions and scholarships
Each year, the festival invites prestigious institutions to audition and recruit students from all over Latin America and the world. At present the Panama Jazz Festival is the largest recruiting space in Latin America for admissions and scholarships for some of the best music schools in the Americas including Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory.
Honours
Recordings
Panama Suite (2006) was recorded with students and faculty of both the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory in the band to commemorate five years of the Panama Jazz Festival. All tracks composed and directed by Danilo Perez and produced by Billy Herron and Berklee College of Music.
"The Panama Suite is a three-movement composition that combines urban sounds with Panamanian folkloric elements in a big band setting. It embodies the sound of the next generation of Latino musicians that represents the opening of geographical borders and the opening of the new mind. This state of mind demands both innovation and respect for tradition, with the hope that by exercising creative freedom the human species will find peace, truth, and justice." - Danilo Perez
The City of Knowledge met with organizers and exhibitors of the educational program of the Panama Jazz Festival 2016 and the Latin American Music Therapy Symposium to speak about the power of music as a tool for social change. Filmed in Ciudad del Saber Panama in January 2016.
NPR met with Danilo Pérez in 2016 to discuss his exhibitions in Panama, specifically the Panama Jazz Festival and the Danilo Perez Foundation. This video was guest-hosted by Felix Contreras of Alt.Latino.
Danilo Pérez Interview(2018) On this interview Danilo Perez talks not only about the Panamonk Revisited trio, but also about the Danilo Perez Foundation's vision and contribution to children's education, that music is fundamental in the right development of humanity. The Panama Jazz Festival creating an attraction for cultural tourism in Panama.
The Pan-African Jazz Project is a musical and collaborative ensemble between Egypt and Panama, with the purpose of promoting a musical encounter between musicians from both latitudes, to interact and merge their cultures and exchange experiences.
References
External links
- Panama Jazz Festival Official Website
- Panama Jazz Festival YouTube Channel
- Panama Jazz Festival Facebook
- Panama Jazz Festival Instagram
- Panama Jazz Festival Twitter
- Danilo Perez Foundation Official Website
- Danilo Perez Official Website
- Centro Musicoterapia Panamá Website
- ^ Mercer, Michelle (2018-01-30). "Scope of Panama Jazz Festival Expands". DownBeat Magazine. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
- ^ Jazz, All About. "The Panama Jazz Festival has evolved into the perfect model of an event that places equal emphasis on performance and education". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
- ^ De Rogatis, Rita Delgado (January 22, 2018). "Panama Jazz Festival 2018 ended awarding music grants". Panama Today. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
- ^ Worrell, Carolina (November 8, 2016). "Panama Jazz Festival to Receive Annual Funding in 2018". Jazz Times. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
- ^ Holston, Mark (June 2012). "Annual Panamá Jazz Fest Puts Accent on Education" (PDF). Latin Beat Magazine. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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