Popayán Philharmonic Orchestra
The Popayan Chamber Orchestra was born as an initiative of the Popayan International Music Festival. It presented its inaugural concert on December 16, 2016, under Maestra Cecilia Espinosa’s baton, EAFIT Symphony Orchestra’s principal conductor.
The orchestra’s second residency occurred with the opening concert of the 54th Popayan Music Festival, under the baton of Maestro Andrés Felipe Jaime, assistant conductor of the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra. Its third performance took place with the world premiere of the “Cantata for Peace,” conducted by the renowned Colombian conductor Felipe Aguirre.
During its fourth residency in 2018, the orchestra accompanied the gala concerts of the 55th Music Festival under the direction of Maestro Felipe Aguirre, at which time it adopted the name Philharmonic Popayan, a classical-format orchestra that dedicated the year’s repertoire to the great Mozart.
In the same year, they performed a Christmas production under the direction of Carlos René Ordoñez, alongside the Estampas choir.
In 2019, under the direction of Maestro Felipe Aguirre, the orchestra had its sixth residency for the gala concerts of the 56th Popayan Music Festival, featuring two productions in honor of the composer Johannes Brahms.
In 2020, amidst the coronavirus crisis, Philharmonic Popayan carried out its seventh and eighth residencies for the virtual editions of the 57th Popayan International Music Festival and the 2nd FestiJazz, in October and December respectively, under the direction of Maestro Juan Romero.
In 2021, the orchestra came together for the opening concert of the 58th Popayan Music Festival, featuring music by local composers in symphonic arrangements, under the direction of Maestra Salomé Gómez. In 2022, they performed the closing concert of the 59th Festival with the Royal Ballet of Cauca in a spectacular production that showcased the rhythms inherent to this Colombian region in a symphonic setting.
For the 60th anniversary of our event, they accompanied the closing concert with performances of “Misa Patoja” by the local composer Diego Arenas and the “Cantata for Peace” by the young Bogotá composer Nicolás Prada.
To date, nearly 100 young musicians have taken part in the Philharmonic Popayan, a process aimed at contributing to their professional development by providing the opportunity to gain orchestral experience under the guidance of distinguished conductors.
