Sobre Nosotros – Bolivia Clasica

Mission

Bolivia Clásica is a non-profit organization committed to bringing Bolivia into the global cultural landscape by creating opportunities for young Bolivian musicians from all backgrounds. We provide high quality musical education and organize performing arts festivals via international cultural exchange with top artists and specialists from around the world, partnering with organizations who share our values.

Vision

We aim to improve the quality of Bolivia’s cultural life and offer hope to a new generation of young people by leading a movement toward excellence in all fields.

BOLIVIA CLÁSICA is a performing arts project created to empower the next generation of Bolivian artists and musicians through international cultural exchange. It enlists top musicians from all over the world to work closely with young Bolivian talents, and includes a biennial festival to draw high-profile soloists to a country long isolated from the international music circuit but which has all the ingredients to become a destination of choice. The brainchild of Bolivian-American pianist Ana-Maria Vera, its mission is to enhance the quality of cultural life in Bolivia and create opportunities for young people, many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds, by spearheading a movement towards excellence in all fields.

Ana-Maria Vera

Pianist and Bolivia Clásica founder Ana-Maria Vera grew up in Washington D.C., but her affinity for her father’s native Bolivia was powerful from an early age. Ana-Maria was already touring with orchestras worldwide when she discovered her paternal homeland at age nine. Her grandfather was a folk composer, writer and indigenous leader, and her grandmother was a “chola” who lived in the heart of the bustling witches market in La Paz; from this vantage point the rich local culture as well as the striking social injustices left an indelible impression.

Ana-Maria’s trajectory has been remarkable. Her first recording at age eleven with the Rotterdam Philharmonic was awarded a Gold Record by Philips, and at age twelve she was invited to give a recital at the White House for President and Mrs. Carter. Vera’s stature in Bolivia grew quickly, and when she was sixteen the country issued a postage stamp bearing her image.

A former pupil of Ylda Novik and Leon Fleisher, Vera has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and Tokyo Symphony amongst others, with conductors including Riccardo Muti, Edo de Waart, David Zinman, Eliahu Inbal, Eduardo Mata and Sergiu Commissiona. She has given countless solo recitals across the globe and has also devoted much of her time to chamber music, developing duo partnerships with Ivry Gitlis, Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis. Her most recent solo recording, of the Goyescas piano suite by Granados, was released on Signum Classics.

Vera’s position in Bolivia often drew parents with musically talented children to appear at her father’s front door asking how their child could fulfill their aspirations. Her brother Armando Vera, a violinist and teacher who has spent over thirty years in Bolivia, has been a source of compelling testimonials conveying the need for better resources and quality control.

Realizing she might be in a unique position to help, Vera relocated her family from London to La Paz in 2011 to start a charitable music school for Bolivia’s young and talented, and found a world-class music festival there to bring top musicians to the region from around the globe. The challenges Vera and her team have endured so far on this ongoing journey have been numerous, but these have been largely offset by the enthusiasm and progress shown by the children. She has also received unprecedented support from both the public and the private sector, raising most of the funds in Bolivia.