Augsburg University ¡Costa Rica 2022!

August 2022.

Rafael led a music department tour of Augsburg University students to Costa Rica for a performance tour featuring a residency with the National Band of Puntarenas. One of seven professional, state-salaried bands within the Ministry of Culture, the Puntarenas band performs weekly concerts for its local audiences and specializes in tropical music with danceable rhythms with symphonic arrangements. Augsburg students needed to come prepared for just two rehearsals and a dress rehearsal before this recorded-for-broadcast concert performance.

Rafael has long collaborated with the National Bands of Costa Rica as a guest conductor. This relationship formed the basis for the residency by university music students within a professional ensemble. Of course, the Augsburg students also had the opportunity to visit other parts of the country including Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula, La Fortuna and the Arenal volcano, and Jaco on the Pacific coast. We hope to be able to return in two years for a second residency with this wonderful band of professional musicians.