How to build an Isthmus

On Saturday, I completed my first week of teaching in Panama. It just so happens that there is a lot more that goes into making an isthmus of music than you would think. The foundation I work for is trying to recruit more students and raise money. But in order to raise money we need to make a product, which for us, is creating musicians. In order for the public to see all of the good we are doing, we have to have recitals and concerts. In order to have concerts, we have to teach the students how to play and give them music. For this, we need teachers. (Is this starting to sound like If You Give a Moose a Cookie yet?) Luckily we have teachers, but in order to keep them we need to be able to pay them and for that, we need money. Back to square one.

All of the cookies aside, this is definitely turning out to be a fantastic adventure. This last week I taught a trombone lesson, a couple violin lessons, a basic theory and recorder lesson, and I was able to help teachers with new ideas. I also came up with a lesson template (in Spanish) and reworked the weekly schedule. It has been a busy week but I can see why this foundation is such an important thing for this country. It is giving students the opportunity to learn how to do something with their hands that teaches them the importance of community, working together, and mostly, working hard to accomplish your goals.

I impressed the teachers and the students with my knowledge and ability to play many instruments from every family. I think I ignited a new hope for many of the students-many of them want to play more than one instrument and now I am a part of an opportunity for them to learn an instrument well and develop good practice techniques so that they can go to college-maybe even come to the United States. By opening the door to the possibilities that LSU offers, the students can see some of the benefits of coming to the States to study. They can then take all of their new knowledge and come back to make their country even better.

Here are some pictures from the foundation on Saturday. These kids are amazing. They really want to learn and it makes my job much easier. I look forward to creating activities and lessons to make this learning opportunity really fun for them. Starting this week, I will be teaching trombone, violin, orchestra, string sectionals, percussion and percussion ensemble, and anything else the foundation needs me to teach. I will also be helping the teachers come up with activities for their own classes. I am very excited for the opportunity to be creative in my teaching.

This is the basic theory and recorder class with Professor Ceballos. 

In this picture, Maestro Flores is working with the second violins and the violas on a song called Brazil for the final concert in December. These kiddos feel complex rhythms in their bodies already after having grown up surrounded by salsa and other complex Latin American rhythms.

Here is the all-star brass section of the orchestra. This weekend the orchestra was a bit small because there was something going on at some of the schools in the area. 

Maestro Flores plays Clarinet and Flute and directs the orchestra. He is a very talented musician and a great teacher!

Even though the kids feel the complex rhythms, syncopation is still hard sometimes, as is counting through long notes! Even Panamanians have to count!

The orchestra and I showing off our Tiger Pride! Geaux LSU!