Tupac Mantilla
Colombia
Grammy-nominated percussionist, educator, and producer, known for his body-rhythm language and his work bridging classical and popular percussion.
Watch on YouTube →Puentes y Diálogos
A series of interviews and artistic collaborations, born in 2020 — a living space for the exchange of music, art, and knowledge, deepening what it means to be a global citizen. Five seasons, archived in full.
When the world went quiet in 2020, Patricia Vlieg and Vilma Esquivel built a space to keep the conversation alive. Puentes y Diálogos ran for five seasons that year — from April to October — as a weekly livestream on Patricia's YouTube channel: a 35-minute encounter that paired a 20-minute interview with a 12-minute musical collaboration, designed anew for each guest.
Through dialogue with artists from many countries, the program set out to build awareness of what we share, respect for our differences, and wider perspectives for understanding one another as citizens of the world. As its premise put it: music is a point of departure from which new discussions, reflections, and learning emerge.
Patricia Vlieg led as artist and host; Vilma Esquivel as producer. The complete archive lives on YouTube. Below, one conversation we return to often — and the full collection.
Featured conversation
Paquito D'Rivera
A conversation with a legend
Paquito D'Rivera
Fourteen-time Grammy and Latin Grammy winner, NEA Jazz Master, and one of the most celebrated clarinetists and saxophonists of his generation. In this episode of Puentes y Diálogos, Paquito D'Rivera joins Patricia Vlieg for a conversation on music, exile, identity, and the language that crosses every border.
Watch on YouTube →
The guests
Five Seasons of Conversation
From April to October 2020, twenty-eight guests from across the Americas, Europe, and Japan joined the program — musicians, composers, filmmakers, photographers, writers, and cultural leaders. Each conversation paired an interview with a live musical collaboration.
Season 1 · April–May 2020
Cheo Hurtado
Venezuela
Virtuoso of the Venezuelan cuatro and composer, one of the central figures of his country's traditional music.
Watch on YouTube →
Gustavo "Popi" Spatocco
Argentina
Pianist, arranger, director, and producer, a collaborator of major figures in Argentine and Latin American popular music.
Watch on YouTube →
Belén Pasqualini
Argentina
Actress, singer, and composer, with a career bridging musical theater and singer-songwriter craft.
Watch on YouTube →
Antonio Briceño
Venezuela
Renowned photographer and visual artist whose work explores the cultures and Indigenous peoples of Latin America.
Watch on YouTube →
Aquiles Báez
Venezuela
Guitarist, composer, researcher, educator, and cultural manager — one of the most influential figures in contemporary Venezuelan music.
Watch on YouTube →Season 2 · June–July 2020
Milagros Blades
Panamá
Fusion percussionist and a champion of Panamanian folk percussion.
Watch on YouTube →
Oscar Stagnaro
Perú–EE.UU.
Bassist and educator, winner of six Grammy Awards and nine nominations, faculty member at Berklee College of Music.
Watch on YouTube →
Freddy Ginebra
Rep. Dominicana
Actor, journalist, writer, and cultural manager, founder of Casa de Teatro in Santo Domingo.
Watch on YouTube →
Ariel Lavigna
Argentina
Recording, mixing, and mastering engineer, winner of awards including the Latin Grammy and the Gardel.
Watch on YouTube →
Luciana Souza
Brasil–EE.UU.
Acclaimed jazz and Brazilian-music singer, educator, arranger, and composer, a multiple Grammy nominee.
Watch on YouTube →
Tito Herrera
Panamá
Award-winning photographer of editorial portraits, travel video, and documentaries.
Watch on YouTube →Season 3 · July–August 2020
Ana Elena Tejera
Panamá
Panamanian actress, filmmaker, and cultural manager, with an authorial lens on memory and territory.
Watch on YouTube →
Lilian Saba
Argentina
Pianist and composer, a leading figure in Argentine popular music and the teaching of folklore.
Watch on YouTube →
Lily Cherniak
Ucrania
Writer, poet, philologist, and cultural manager, a multifaceted voice between literature and art.
Watch on YouTube →
Mario García Hudson
Panamá
Renowned Panamanian essayist, literary critic, and music researcher.
Watch on YouTube →
Gonzalo Grau
Venezuela–España
Multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer, and leader of various projects spanning jazz and Latin music.
Watch on YouTube →
Jaime Ingram
Panamá
Pianist, diplomat, and educator; first director of Panama's National Institute of Culture and founder of the International Piano Competition of Panama.
Watch on YouTube →Season 4 · August–October 2020
Javier Romero-Naranjo
Islas Canarias, España
Renowned ethnomusicologist and music educator, a specialist in African musics and professor at the University of Alicante.
Watch on YouTube →
Paquito D'Rivera ★
Cuba–EE.UU.
A living legend of Latin jazz. Winner of fourteen Grammy Awards, a virtuoso of the saxophone and clarinet who masterfully fuses classical music with Latin American popular traditions.
Watch on YouTube →
Anima Concordia
Japón–Venezuela
Internationally recognized duo specializing in the 18th-century Baroque violin repertoire.
Watch on YouTube →
Berta Rojas
Paraguay
Celebrated concert guitarist, three-time Latin Grammy nominee, praised as an “Extraordinary Guitarist” and an “Ambassador of the Classical Guitar.”
Watch on YouTube →
Daniel Freiberg
Argentina–EE.UU.
Award-winning composer, arranger, pianist, and producer based in New York, working at the intersection of jazz, classical, and Latin American music.
Watch on YouTube →
Anita Loynaz
Venezuela–Panamá
Professional flamenco dancer, creator of Flamenco Fit and a Nike International ambassador, an educator of distinguished standing.
Watch on YouTube →Season 5 · October 2020
Gabriel Cruz
Venezuela–Panamá
Specialist in the legacy of the French-Venezuelan master Carlos Cruz-Diez; founding member and director of the Cruz-Diez Art Foundation.
Watch on YouTube →
Martín Proaño
Ecuador
Musician and creator featured on the program, in conversation about art, identity, and intercultural collaboration.
Watch on YouTube →
Lilo Sánchez
Panamá
Panamanian musician and producer, a voice of the local creative scene in conversation about identity and craft.
Watch on YouTube →
Rolando Domingo
Panamá
Panamanian musician featured on the program, in conversation about creativity, identity, and the musical craft.
Watch on YouTube →
A platform with a voice
“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”
Malala Yousafzai's words guided the program. Puentes y Diálogos is part of a continuous body of work — the same conviction that drives the residencies, the concerts, and the research: that dialogue, sustained over time, changes people.
Panama City · Livestream · 2020