Following is a selection of recent events organized by the IDB Cultural Center at the Bank’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Youth Orchestra of the Americas, composed of 120 young musicians from all over the hemisphere and conducted by Christopher Wilkins and Gustavo Dudamel, rehearsed in the IDB’s Andrés Bello auditorium in preparation for their 10-city tour that began at the famed Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma rehearsed with the orchestra and instructed them on artistic interpretation prior to their joint performance at Wolf Trap.
In collaboration with the Embassy of Chile, Chilean soprano and opera star Verónica Villarroel presented a one-woman show of arias and zarzuelas. The program was held in honor of the Sonrisa de Mujer initiative, a program led by the first lady of Chile, Luisa Durán de Lagos, that provides dental care for low-income women.
Nathaly Gustafson, winner of the Cardozo Ocampo National Music Competition in Asunción, Paraguay, had her Washington, D.C., debut in the IDB’s Andrés Bello Auditorium with a program of works by Bach, Mozart and Chopin.
In a special concert entitled Masters of Bossa Nova, the Brazilian quartet Os Cariocas, one of the first to popularize this musical genre, performed at the IDB with two of its original members. Marcos Valle, author of Samba de Verano and other bossa nova classics, also performed, accompanied by Brazilian vocalist Patricia Alvi.
Oscar Hijuelos, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, presented his latest book, A Simple Havana Melody.
The IDB Cultural Center announced an international video art competition and exhibition to be held from December 2002 through January 2003 at its art gallery at IDB headquarters, and subsequently at the Istituto Italo-Latinoamericano in Rome, Italy, (March–April 2003). The deadline for submission of videos is November 1, 2002.