(Featured image from Jorge Drexler via Facebook. Photo credit @john.duran.969.)
No doubt, we’re in the middle of a nightmare: but one silver lining is that for a music lover (particularly an introverted, broke music lover), it’s a bit of a dream. There’s a host of Costa Rican and Latin American music to be had on YouTube, Facebook and other platforms as artists hunker down during the 2020 Quarantine. Here are a few:
- One of the firsts artists on this bandwagon in Costa Rica was the extraordinary Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler, who carried on his March 13 concert at the Teatro Melico Salazar as scheduled – just without an audience. You can watch it in its entirety on YouTube, and I highly recommend you do.
- Costa Rican group Buena Calle is performing its third-anniversary concert on Facebook tonight at 8 pm.
- Costa Rican comedian and director Hernán Jiménez put his latest comedy show, Se Despichó Tere, on on YouTube for free during the crisis.
- There’s an entire online Costa Rican music festival this weekend! The #SoloPeroJuntos Festival (#AloneButTogether) offers a lineup of musicians via Instagram Live including Debi Nova and Pedro Capmany. Basically, you can just start streaming at 1 pm Saturday or 2 pm Sunday; hop from musician to musician (schedule and handles below); go about your so-called homeschooling/working from home/reorganizing your sock drawer life; and hear a whole range of Costa Rican music. At least, that’s my plan.
- The following weekend will see Latin America’s first-ever online music festival, La Unión Hace la Fiesta (best name ever?). You can see and hear Costa Rica’s República Fortuna and other bands from around the region.
- And the list will probably continue to grow. Happy viewing, everyone…
I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! During the COVID-19 crisis I’m focusing on slices of Costa Rican life that people can enjoy virtually during these tough times. If you see a great Costa Rica cam, FB Live, online class, photo series or other gem being shared from Costa Rica, let me know! If you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section, updated regularly.
katherine stanley obando 