Panama Jazz Festival 2021 will be virtual

The Panama Jazz Festival in its virtual version will take place from January 11 to 23, 2021. It will be two weeks where music will unite us and leave traces in our hearts

“The eighteenth edition of the festival will be dedicated to the New York-based Panamanian singer Enid Lowe and her husband, the Panamanian saxophonist Walter Gene Jefferson,” commented the creator of the PJF, Danilo Pérez.

The festival will consist of two weeks of clinics and important concerts, highlighting the gala with the last concert of the Wayne Shorter quartet. For the first time, there will be a masterful collaboration by Erika Ender and Danilo Pérez, a great concert by Rubén Blades with Roberto Delgado Salsa Big Band, in addition to saxophonist Joe Lovano with singer Judi Silvano, Terri Lynn Carrington with Kris Davis and Val Jeanty, John Patitucci Duo and many more.

For Professor Jorge Arosemena, Executive President of the City of Knowledge Foundation, “this time the PJF will have to be virtual, but the Danilo Pérez Foundation can always count on the support of the City of Knowledge because this event enriches Panama and we are very proud to be part of it”.

"For me it is an honor to be able to participate in this edition of the festival and above all to have the opportunity to make music with maestro Danilo Pérez," said Erika Ender, Panamanian artist invited to the festival.

For his part, Carlos Aguilar, Minister of Culture of Panama, mentioned that “it is a perfect time to participate in a dialogue that reflects the needs we have in the cultural sector and that allows us to take a great step forward, like the celebration of the Panama Jazz Festival”.

Due to the global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, all the concerts of the virtual edition of the PJF can be seen through the web https://panamajazzfestival.com. "This is one of the most important cultural events in Latin America and for us it is an obligation to carry it out," said the Executive Director of the Panama Jazz Festival, Patricia Zárate.

The Panama Jazz Festival will work through donations, people will decide how much they want to donate to see the show or to participate in educational events.

About the Panama Jazz Festival

With almost 20 years, the Panama Jazz Festival has become a cultural tourism attraction with the visit of more than 300,000 people from different latitudes. It was founded in September 2003 by the Panamanian Grammy winner, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, UNESCO Artist for Peace and Cultural Ambassador of Panama, Danilo Pérez, with the mission of improving the lives of people through musical experiences shared on stage and in classrooms.

The PJF aims to inspire, educate, and provide tools and opportunities to build a better future for people and their communities. It is organized by the Danilo Pérez Foundation, for the benefit of its educational musical programs and in response to the challenges of the 21^st century, creating artistic relationships and sustainable educational programs that help massively to educate the Latin American population in general, and the Panamanian population in particular, about the positive effects of music on society.

Following parameters of sustainable development, the festival brings together the Government of Panama, private companies and non-governmental organizations such as City of Knowledge in an extraordinary bond that joins forces annually to attract thousands of people to live the Panamanian experience.

Impact on Education

The Panama Jazz Festival and its master classes, which spend approximately $ 85,000 in music education, have become the Bridge of the Americas for students from across the region, creating unprecedented educational tourism in Latin America and serving as a global example of responsible, inclusive and equitable globalization.

Throughout 17 years the Panama Jazz Festival has offered a rich concert program with the world's leading jazz musicians such as The Wayne Shorter Quartet, Herbie Hancock, Chucho Valdés Quartet, John Patitucci, Joe Lovano, Rubén Blades, Randy Weston, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Mike Stern, Lizz Wright, Jack DeJohnette, Stanley Jordan, Billy Cobham, Terry Lyne Carrington, Ran Blake, Phil Ranelin and Ellis Marsalis, among others, thus becoming a great music education event where ideas converge with interdisciplinary projects of high academic quality around music and society.

Among the achievements of the Panama Jazz Festival, it is consolidated as an audition center for admission and scholarships to important foreign music schools and as the first event in the world that grants university academic credits for the prestigious Berklee College of Music.

All information on: https://panamajazzfestival.com