Over the past several years, I have noticed a steady stream of expat musicians arriving in Puerto Armuelles. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have met at least 6 new expat musicians who have moved here in the past year or two. No doubt there are others whom I have not met.
One expat musician, as you will see below, is offering to teach adults the recorder.
In the Corazon de Jesus neighborhood, there are 2 really good guitar players who live side-by-side in remodeled Panamanian concrete block houses. This is of particular interest to me since I have taken up the guitar as my “old guy hobby”.
Just this past week, I spoke on the phone with a couple who are curious about venues for performing their music in Puerto. They will be visiting Puerto for the first time soon.
So far, we have not had any sort of “open mic” nights in Puerto like the ones in Volcan or Boquete. However, with the arrival of so many musicians here perhaps a regular open mic event could be organized.
I know that Heavenly’s Hotel (Now Big Daddy’s) did have a few musical performances by local expat musicians. However, such events were not regularly scheduled. I will talk to Dave, one of the owners of Big Daddy’s Hotel, to see if anyone has expressed interest in performing lately. Hopefully, Big Daddy’s would welcome such a regular event. Come to think of it, Dave plays the drums. He doesn’t perform, but he loves music.
In Puerto’s Coronado neighborhood there is a family of musicians, Melinda, Ingrid, and Melinda’s son Ramy. They all play guitar. However, Melinda’s passion is the banjo. Not surprisingly, Melinda, in particular, is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about bluegrass music.
Some very good news is that Ingrid is offering recorder lessons for interested adults. She is a retired music teacher from Anchorage, Alaska. As I mentioned above, Ingrid also plays guitar.
The recorder is a great instrument for learning the basics of music. And you can take it as far as you want to go. Ingrid has brought a number of alto recorders with her to Puerto so that she can assist those who want to give it a try.
(FYI, a basic recorder is easily purchased in Panama since the recorder is taught to most students sometime during elementary school.)
With luck, maybe she can even get a little recorder ensemble together. That sounds like fun.
If you are interested in lessons, contact Ingrid Lindberg of Puerto Armuelles via Facebook.
I'd be interested in taking up the recorder again. Many years ago, my brother and sister-in-law, both musicians, gave our family an assortment of recorders. We brought them down to Puerto over a decade ago, hoping we would starting playing the recorder. But it never really interested our kids nor my wife. (I had played a recorder for a couple of years as a child. I can’t have forgotten it all, I hope.).
I am going to dig through our various boxes of “stuff” and find those recorders. Then, I am going to get in touch with Ingrid to start re-learning the recorder. My attitude is that it is never too late to start to play music.
If you are a musician, or if you are interested in getting started playing music, please let us know. We'd be happy to steer you to others in Puerto who share your passion.
Thanks for reading, Reyn
Interested in Creating Art?
Check out more happiness-enhancing hobby suggestions
