By: Jason Camelio, Director of International Programs

We have had a fantastic week at the 3er Congreso Latino de Escuelas de Música at Conservatorio Souza Lima in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Throughout the week institutions and organizations from around Latin America have held sessions sharing information about their programs and discussing opportunities for a broad range of collaborations. But, the Congress has also been established to use this time to share important cultural, musical and pedagogical information and concepts.

During these presentations, attendees have been treated to a number of world-class artist/educators representing a variety of traditions from the Brazilian music culture. This included performances by Filo Machado, Pedro Ramos, Paulo Braga and many more. Souza Lima also took the group of institutions to important musical and cultural sites in Sao Paulo, including Bar Ódoborogodó and Memorial de América Latina.

2012 CLAEM Paulo Braga

2012 CLAEM Paulo Braga

One of the highlights this week has been hearing the excellent work being done by the students representing the institutions at the Congress. Students from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Peru formed three music groups that performed last night at Souza Lima. The students demonstrated a high level of skill and musicianship, having only 3-days to put together short sets of music to be performed. Their fine performances are a testament to their exceptional hard work and the dedication of the institution leaders and faculty members of the CLAEM partners.

Tonight we wrap things up with a celebration for Souza Lima, which is entering it’s 30th year!  More news to come.

2012 CLAEM Student Concert

2012 CLAEM Student Concert