The official foundation of the National Symphony Orchestra has as an immediate antecedent an orchestra of 30 musicians that formed Herbert De Castro and Roque Cordero in the Unión Musical -society of musicians residing in Panama- which offered concerts since 1939.
On May 27, 1941, by Decree Law No. 65, which bears the signature of Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid, President of the Republic and Dr. José Pezet, the National Symphony Orchestra of Panama is created, with an allocation of 50 places, of which 46 were filled, being the M ° Herbert De Castro its Director-Founder.
Since then, he has had Masters Herbert De Castro as Principal Directors; Walter Myers; Roque Cordero Eduardo Charpentier De Castro and Efraín Guigui. They have acted as invited directors Richard Schumacher; Hans Jochem Reeps; Ricardo Del Carmen; Luis Herrera de la Fuente; Carmen Moral; Antoni Wit; Nino Mazza, among others.
Renowned soloists such as Alfredo de Saint-Malo; Henryk Szerynk; José Iturbi; Nelly and Jaime Ingram; Sequeira-Costa; Efraín Castro; Carmen Cedeño; Marianne Blok; Juan Castillo; Emmanuel Ax; Peter Orth; Leonid Kuzmin; Siqing Lu and many others have brightened the concerts of the Orchestra.
Since July 1, 1994, Maestro Jorge Ledesma Bradley is in charge of the direction of the Orchestra, beginning a process of incorporation of young musicians, national and foreign, expanding the artistic body of the orchestra to 67 musicians; committing all in the pursuit of artistic excellence and addressing an increasingly demanding repertoire.
Numerous first auditions in Panama of works of the universal repertoire, such as ‘The Consecration of Spring’; ‘Paintings of an Exhibition’; IIa Rachmaninov’s Symphony, as well as Panamanian works, among them the Second and Fourth Symphonies of Roque Cordero; the ‘Te Deum’ by Ricardo Risco; ‘The Drum of the Agony’ by Emiliano Pardo-Tristán. Under the direction of Ledezma-Bradley, the Orchestra has recorded 3 albums with emblematic works of Panamanian music, including works by Galimany; Brenes; Lamb; Quintero; Tapia and others, which have contributed to bring the Orchestra to the heart of the public while, through its concerts throughout the national territory, continues to raise the cultural level of the Panamanian Nation.
Conduction
M° Jorge Ledezma Bradley, Conductor
Prof. Ricardo Risco Cortés, Assistant Conductor
First Violins
Ioan Rotar /Concertino
Ariadna Núñez
Epifanía de Rotar
Melanie Taylor
Maria Cecilia Ariasgago
Arturo Rey Sánchez
Gloria Núñez
Néstor Ibarra
Roberto Pérez
Diomedes Díaz
Tamara Alvarado
Second Violins
Graciela Núñez /Main
Josue Ashby
Juan Pablo Sanjur
Keren Espinosa
Adriana Ramírez
Itza Antonia Tejada
Danelle Hall
Angel De Jesús Díaz
Rene Quiros
Alberto Sanjur
Alexis Diaz
Violas
Timothy Lacrosse /Main
Moisés Guevara
Aliona Pogromskaia
Anel González
Jorge Gianareas
José Luis Delgado
Luis Morales
Maria Fernanda Oropeza
Cellos
Karina Núñez /Main
Carlos Alvarado
Gustavo Arce
Eloy de Icaza
Mario Grisolia
Raquel Barrios
Juan Raúl Alvarez
Double Bass
Roberto Florez /Main
Juan Carlos Rodó /Assistant
Carlos Quiros
Osvaldo Vergara
Samuel Corrioso
Flutes
Rommel Charpentier /Main
Eliette Apolayo /Assistant
Oboes
Juan E. Castillo /Main
Leopoldo Magallón /Assistant
Clarinets
Reinaldo Alvarez /Main
Hipólito Villarreal /Assistant
Bassoons
Daniel Agudo /Main
Iván Navarro /Assistant
Horns
Leony Delgado /Main
Nicolás Montero
Gustavo Vega /Assistant
Luis Antonio García
Trumpets
Faustino Sánchez /Main
Santiago Alba /Assistant
Roberto Ruiz
Trombones
Guillermo Morales /Main
Santiago Aguilar /Assistant
Francisco Delvecchio
Tuba
José Berdiales
Keyboards
Leonardo Durha
Kettle Drums
Osvaldo A. Sempris /Main
Percussion
Vicente S. Elcock
Ella Ponce
Fermín Aguilar
Administration
Carmen Yanet Arroyo, Administrator
Silvia M. de Jiménez, Administrative Assistant
Sulma Méndez, Administrative Assistant
Rosa Jordán, Assistant
Technical Team/Props
Fabián Hernández
Rafael Morales