On Thursday, August 1st, in an official ceremony, the President of Bolivia, Jorge Quiroga, handed over the keys of the former Cine La Paz, an art deco, centrally-located multifunctional facility to the Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia, David Handel. This will create a Symphony Centre for La Paz and the entire country of Bolivia.

Music Director Handel comments: "The acoustics of the hall are excellent. We brought acousticians from the US (acoustic specialists, AKUSTICS) to help us identify an existing potential performance space in La Paz which would suit our needs. The hall is sound, seating approximately 1000. There is ample office, backstage and storage space. It is ideally located just in front of the Central Bank, next to the Vice Presidency and around the corner from City Hall. There are commercial spaces and space adequate to develop an orchestra rehearsal hall and more. Our Orchestra, sponsors and public are thrilled with the prospects. It meant convincing politicians, from Ministers up to the President of the Republic that we were worthy of their support and investment, and we have done this by developing our public and making ourselves one of the most relevant voices in the broader cultural context. "

Created in 1945, the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia is the nation's premier musical institution. Since taking charge as Music Director in 1997, David Handel has set an aggressive agenda for the institution's artistic and social development with respect to its role in the community. Maestro Handel insisted that one of the pillars of his tenure was the securing of a permanent home for the National Symphony Orchestra, until then an ensemble which rehearsed in one inadequate facility and performed in another.

Since the Creation of the National Symphony Orchestra Foundation in 1998 and the decentralization of the Orchestra from the Sate apparatus in 1999 through a presidential decree, the Orchestra has achieved record attendance, surpassing all previous attendance by more than 800%, diversifying the Orchestra's programming, now reaching all parts of the country and beyond Bolivia's borders. The Orchestra's artistic progress has been widely reported in the local and regional press and has been cited as a model for institutional development in the region.

This represents an important advance in the Latin American cultural arena, making La Paz, Bolivia one of the few Latin American capitals which counts upon a hall designed for the exclusive use of a symphony orchestra and concert presentations.

The Orchestra's dramatic increase in activity has been paralleled by an increase in the diversity of its repertoire, beyond the classical mainstream, now including opera, ballet, popular classics, contemporary, traditional popular Bolivian music in original orchestral arrangements, the Bolivian Contemporary Music Festival and more. Visit their website at http://www.sinfinocabolivia.org.

Since serving as Kurt Masur's assistant conductor, David Handel has led orchestras throughout the world, including a preview of young conducting talent with New York Philharmonic at New YorkÕs Carnegie Hall. He has been awarded a conducting fellowship from GermanyÕs Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra and is one of few American conductors to have been invited to perform in Cuba in recent years Mr. Handel has represented the United States in Latin America and Central Asia as a recipient of United States Information Agency awards and as a Cultural Ambassador through the U.S. State Department Cultural Specialist Program. He has twice been awarded fellowships with the prestigious Fulbright Program. More information about David Handel can be found in English and Spanish on the web at http://www.jamesarts.com/artists.htm#DAVIDHANDEL.

For further information, please contact Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-586-3433 or jamesarts@worldnet.att.net.