The capital of Panama was the first stop on a tour that the popular Cuban group Arnaldo Rodríguez and TALISMÁN are carrying out through several Latin American countries and that continues in the Dominican Republic.

According to Arnaldo Rodríguez, leader of the orchestra, “the stay in Panama was an opportunity to show not only the TALISMÁN repertoire, but also to share workshops and conferences on Cuban popular music and on community work and local development, with artists, professors, researchers, and students from the University of Panama, in the capital, and from the San Miguelito higher education center, a subject in which we have also accumulated experiences over more than ten years with our Lucecita Community Project and more recently the PDL Mambo Producciones”.

“Also, it’s always good to meet up with our Panamanian friends Adalberto Bazán, Biby Halzen and the Matices Group, who are already regular participants in Piña Colada Festival and for whom we have made several productions. We were lucky enough to participate in the celebration of the 34th anniversary of that group, which belongs to the Culture Department of the University of Panama and defends with great dedication and talent the traditions of that sister country, so we are grateful and delighted with the opportunity to share the stage with them again, this time at the University Auditorium, a place with so much history.”

One of the young musicians in the group, percussionist Raudel Valdés, says that the opportunity to teach the workshop on piano tumbao and percussion in Cuban popular music has been one of the best experiences he’s taken away from the tour so far: “first because I did it with Arnaldo and Bertha, musicians from whom I always learn, and also because the interest there’s in our music and the admiration shown for Cuban artists in the world is incredible.”

As for the public acceptance, Bertha Elena Solorzano, pianist and musical director of TALISMÁN, commented: “In Panama, we found a wonderful public. There was a real desire at the University to listen to TALISMÁN’s music. They already had references about our work, and there was a particularly magical moment when we played La Lucecita and the people in the Auditorium began to turn on the lights on their cell phones, as they do in Cuba. It really moved us a lot. As for the Dominican Republic, we are also happy with the first performances, because the public has enjoyed every song, including the merengue songs, which satisfies us, because it’s like “selling ice to an eskimo”, they approach us, congratulate us, I think we started with the right foot.”

In Santo Domingo, TALISMAN was received this Sunday with a wide program of activities that will include concerts, workshops, and exchanges, which began with a successful presentation at the Magisterial Club, organized by the Association of Professors of the Dominican Autonomous University.

In addition, they will visit places of historical and cultural interest that connect from the essence of two countries whose ties go far beyond geographical proximity, insularity and the Caribbean Sea, they have to do with the roots and the feeling of their people.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff