At CAPI in Samaipata, adjusting the violin position of a beginner student.

At CAPI, end-of-year presentation of the string project.

In Samaipata, in the department of Santa Cruz, Andrés was brought in to work with string students at CAPI – Centro Artístico Pedagógico Integral, a cultural centre which supports educational and artistic activities in the city of Samaipata, primarily in the areas of year-round education, educational resources, and the promotion of educational projects and cultural activities in the region.

Pedro Bustamante, director of the Wayra orchestral project, with Andres and Armando in Cochabamba.

Andres with a student from the Wayra project.

In the outskirts of Cochabamba, we collaborated with the social project Proyecto Orquestal Wayra, where Andres worked directly with young violin and viola students. The Wayra Orchestral Project was created within the Estrellas en la Calle Foundation to form a string orchestra with children and teenagers from the Cerro Verde area of Cochabamba, offering them alternative lifestyles through music and allowing them to learn an instrument.

Andres coaches a Clave Sol violinist at the Mi Teleférico installations in central La Paz.

In La Paz, Andres collaborated with our Clave Sol teachers, coaching Clave Sol orchestral students from La Paz and El Alto, as well as students from other musical projects over a period of several weeks. He also performed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with them at the end-of-year Christmas concerts.

Spanish violinist Leticia Moreno, after her performance of Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons, with the Bolivia Clasica chamber orchestra and maestro Cergio Prudencio.

We included street theatre at our first TakuApu festival, commissioning a play by Alejandro Molina.

As well as the creation of a bespoke mural under the guidance of renowned Bolivian artist Cecilia Wilde.

Cecilia Wilde (on right) on site with CAPI co-founder Liliana Navia and team leader Pedro Lazaro.

There was outdoor chamber music!

And a Traditional Music workshop for local children, under the guidance of Manuel Castellanos.

Piraí Vaca, Bolivia’s highly regarded guitarist, at the TakuApu Festival.

The stunning Iglesia de Samaipata was filled to the brim.

Enjoying the views after an intense few weeks.

This included the Bolivian premiere of Shaker Loops by John Adams, which the composer describes as: …the vision of these otherwise pious and industrious souls caught up in the ecstatic frenzy of a dance that culminated in an epiphany of physical and spiritual transcendence. This dynamic, almost electrically charged element, so out of place in the orderly mechanistic universe of Minimalism, gave the music its raison d’être and ultimately led to the full realization of the piece.

One of the performances took place in the National Art Museum.

Exploring the streets of La Paz between rehearsals.

The kids in the orchestra are just adorable, hard-working and completely committed. Armando does a fabulous job preparing them, and I think the Vera family is onto something vital for the musical community of the country. Considering the great food, the mountains and the charm of La Paz, adding music making to it all was pure pleasure. Ana Maria has to find a way to make this festival thrive at the highest level.
– David Stern, American conductor

Meastro David Stern rehearsing with young violinist Carlos Lazarte in a Bach concerto at the Teatro Municipal in La Paz.

Sopranos Sophia Stern and Sarah Hershkowitz dancing at one of the many fiestas in La Paz.

Jaime Laredo conducting the Bolivia Clasica Youth Chamber Orchestra with his wife, renowned cellist Sharon Robinson, as soloist.

Jaime Laredo performed Bach’s Double Violin Concerto with violinists Gabriel Bilbao, Jaime Kaiser, and Albert García.

A trio performance at the Palacio Portales in Cochabamba.

Jaime Laredo and Ana-Maria Vera perform together at the Cancillería in La Paz.

Rehearsing with the Bolivia Clásica Youth Orchestra.

A masterclass with Gabriel Bilbao.

The Bolivia Clásica String Quartet masterclass with Sharon Robinson.