OnTour

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

After just returning from Carnegie Hall, we headed to Bolivia on April 23 - May 7, 2022.

FIU music students along with faculty members, Dr. Javier Jose Mendoza (Director of Orchestral Studies) and Dr. Erynn Millard (Director of Choral Activities), performed in the 2022 International American Renaissance and Baroque Music Festival in Chiquitos, Bolivia.

Deemed to be the most important cultural event within Bolivia, and the world’s largest event of its kind, the festival is carried out by the Asociación Pro Arte y Cultura every two years. There were 100 concerts over ten days featuring artists from fourteen countries including Juilliard415 (Period-instrument Ensemble), Royal College of Music Baroque Orchestra, and more.

Not only did our students perform in the culminating concert, “Barroco Monumental,” but our faculty conducted the program which includes Haydn's "Lord Nelson Mass” and G.F. Handel's "The King Shall Rejoice" from his "Coronation Anthems," along with eighteenthcentury music of the Jesuit missions in Bolivia.

During their free time, our students volunteered at the nearby orphanage for girls, “Hogar Sonrisa de Mariele” where they gave individual lessons

Did you know? The region of Santa Cruz in southeastern Bolivia, bordering with Brazil, was named “Chiquitos” by the Jesuit missionaries from Europe who arrived in e 17th century. The Jesuits brought uropean instruments like violins, lutes and harpsichords to these nous jungle communities, who