Press Releases 2007

October 27, 2007

U.S. Embassy Panama Supports 5th Annual Panama International Jazz Festival

For the fifth year in a row, the U.S. Embassy Panama will help sponsor the Panama International Jazz Festival in its 5th incarnation, January 21 – 28, 2008. We will join former U.S. Fulbright Scholarship recipient, Grammy-winning musician, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Danilo Perez in supporting this festival that brings together jazz and music lovers from Panama, the United States, and the world. All ticket sales help fund the Danilo Perez Foundation, founded by Danilo in 2005 to offer scholarships and training to Panamanian music students and professionals and to provide musical and cultural activities for the general public that promote art, education and culture.

In particular, we are proud to announce that the U.S. Department of State has arranged for world-renowned jazz singer Kelley Johnson and her quartet to perform at the festival as the first stop on their 2008 American Music Abroad tour. As jazz great Wynton Marsalis says, “Swing is a natural agent of diplomacy.”

U.S. Embassy Panama will also sponsor music clinics and master classes for students and a workshop to facilitate creative exchange between participating international media covering the festival and their Panamanian counterparts. The Kelley Johnson Quartet will also conduct some of the clinics.