Universidad Nacional Orchestra from San Isidro, Costa Rica
Jul 7th, 2008 by Don Ray
Yesterday afternoon, at 4:00 PM, I went to the Lyons Gimnasium to watch the Costa Rican orchestra. It was the Universidad Nacional Orchestra from San Isidro, Costa Rica. It was a great event. I am so sorry you missed it and apologize that I didn’t give it a better write-up, when I posted the announcement that it was coming. If I had known, how good it was going to be, I would have done better.
I did take videos of the performance. I will need a few days to get them processed and uploaded to YouTube. Since I don’t have a real video camera and used my Olympus 570SP, the quality of the sound is not the best. However, it will give you an idea of what you missed.
Off topic - It was good to learn about the Lyons Gimnasium (Lions Gymnasium). It is good sized and is used for basketball games. I would like to find out when the basketball schedule is active, so I can go watch a game.
Now back on topic - The performance started a little after 4:00 PM. They had set up for over 150 seats on the floor in front of the orchestra. The gym itself would hold a ton of people, if it were full. Unfortunately for the performers, there were only about 20 observers plus some of the band members family.
Too bad. I don’t know if the prior advertisement wasn’t effective, or if David isn’t into culturally oriented events. At any rate it was the best entertainment I have seen in a long time. There is something about being in front of live performers that sends chills down my spine. I really think if the gringo community in David and Boquete had understood what was happening there would have been a better turn out.
The performance was divided into two parts. In the first part, the orchestra numbered about 30. In the second part, they added about 10 more musicians.
The first half was music of a Latin flare. It was lively and very well done.
Then there was a short break and they re-organized the area to accommodate the new members. This half had a different director and used a video to the side with videos playing that went with the music. Very effective and very good. The second half was based on movie themes and you will recognize all of them.
They played a lot of John Williams music and he is one of my favorites.
The performance in David was a warm up for their performance in Panama City, where they are traveling to today. I am sure they will have a better turnout in Panama City. Those of you reading this in Panama City have been put on notice to watch for where and when they will perform. The performance in David was free and I expect it to be free in Panama City also.
Free is good, but it doesn’t reflect the value, of the enjoyment, you will get by watching these young people perform.
As I said, I have many videos that I need to work on and this post will contain them when I have them ready. I will edit this post when the videos are ready, but I wanted to make sure that those in Panama City knew what was coming.
