Music of the Americas: Central America

Wednesday, April 29, 10 am

Kandall is a Panamanian reggae artist who, through his music, seeks to connect and promote his culture. His songs speak of love and spiritualilty and seek to awaken our consciousness. 

From Panama City, with Anthony Vega and Mauro Toribio, he sent us this version of "Tu primer amor" ("Your First Love"), a song that tells the story of a love from long ago that remains present in spite of attempts to forget it. 

Thursday, April 30, 10 am

Paisaxe Ensamble (countertenor Fernando Bustos, clarinetist Alexis Fong, violinist Oryana Racines, violist José Pabuence, cellist Yumiko Tokumoto, bassist Mar Alzamora, and guitarist Víctor Villarreal) is back with an arrangement by Andrés Carrizo of "Cantan las cigarras" ("The Cicadas Sing"), a piece included in the collection Las Tonadas del Trópico Niño, published by Panamanian composer and musicologist Gonzalo Brenes in 1955. The project started in 1936 as an educational and research initiative and the seventy songs included in the publication have become extemely popular in the country's schools and have been recorded by several Panamanian musicians. "Cantan las cigarras" is set to lyrics by Fernando Luján. 

Friday, May 1, 10 am

Valeria Atkeys is a Costa Rican pianist, producer, and composer that seeks to create sonic experiences that foster connection. Her style fuses classical piano with Latin American rhythms and genres such as electro-pop, indie-pop, and trip-hop, and she takes great pride in being a visible voice for the LGBTQI+ community and in using her platform to celebrate diversity and inclusion. She is the founder of Wila Fest, the first large-scale festival in Central America dedicated to women in music. 

From the city of Heredia, Atkeys and Natalia Serna sent us this video of "Viento de noche" ("Night Wind"), an intimate and serene song in a simple acoustic arrangement featuring piano, guitar, and vocals that conveys that unique sense of well-being that courses through the body when everything feels in harmony. It was born from the magic of an encounter beneath the starry skies of Guanacaste, where the two singer-songwriters connected on a special night, giving life to a collaboration that unites Costa Rica and Colombia through music.

The MetLife Foundation Music of the Americas concert series is made possible by the generous support of Presenting Sponsor MetLife Foundation.

The 2025–2026 series is also supported, in part, by the Howard Gilman Foundation, Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, The Augustine Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and The Amphion Foundation.