A rare band experience outside Asia! 🌎
From 21 to 24 May, I visited Panama in Central America. 🇵🇦
After about a four-hour drive from Panama City, I arrived in Santiago, Veraguas. It was a great honour to participate as a clinician in the Seminario Internacional de Bandas Yamaha (Yamaha International Wind Band Workshop).
It might be difficult to imagine what the wind band scene is like in Latin America.
In Panama, while marching bands are overwhelmingly popular, there is a growing transition towards concert bands (an interesting trend that mirrors many Southeast Asian countries). I was told that this workshop was organised to further develop music education and pedagogical development.
More than 80 directors from all over Panama attended, exceeding initial expectations. With participants also coming from neighbouring countries like El Salvador, Honduras, and Colombia, it truly became an international event. 🇵🇦🇸🇻🇭🇳🇨🇴🇯🇵
Thanks to the dedicated performances of two demonstration bands with excellent fundamental skills, Instituto Urracá and Colegio José Santos Puga, the workshop was highly productive and fulfilling.
At the request of the local organisers, a session was held to introduce Japanese wind band repertoire, and the participants listened with great interest.
Instituto Urracá, conducted by Mr Abdías Chang, performed two pieces: Genesis by Eiji Suzuki and Sakura Song by Yosuke Fukuda. This was almost certainly their premiere in Panama, and possibly even in Latin America!
I was delighted to hear that the entire workshop received very positive feedback from the participants afterwards.
Every region in the world has its own unique strengths in band culture.
At the same time, the educational expertise and approaches developed in Japan can be highly effective in various contexts. It would be wonderful if these mutual exchanges could contribute to the further development of the global band community.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone involved, both locally and in Japan.
Thank you very much!
Two memorable episodes
● During our travel, Mr Juan Guillermo Ramírez from Latin America Music Workshop, S.A., who gave me full support throughout the trip, mentioned the name of Mr Mitsuo Nonami, saying, “The first Japanese band director who came to this region was…”
Mr Nonami made immeasurable contributions to the popularisation and development of school bands in Singapore and Malaysia. It is no exaggeration to say that almost all the band directors there know his name. I also have the privilege of meeting him every few years in Malaysia. I was deeply moved to find his clear footsteps remaining in both Southeast Asia and Latin America, two regions located literally on opposite sides of the earth.
● Spanish is the official/working language of Panama and most of Latin American countries. Since I do not speak Spanish, my English was interpreted into Spanish.
It was my first time to be on the receiving end of interpretation for such a long duration. Drawing from my own experience of translating for others, I tried to speak in short sentences. However, as the sessions heated up, I often found myself speaking at length all at once, which gave me much to reflect upon.
