POCATELLO — Nestled in a corner of an orchestra room of the Idaho State University Fine Arts Building, Nell Flanders, Idaho State-Civic Symphony conductor, reflected on the time she has spent in Panama and how the influence of teaching and music continues to shape the destinies of young and old alike.
Flanders has been traveling to the Central American country of Panama for decades through a collaboration with her alma mater, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, in Ohio.
“I went to Panama to teach at a music camp,” Flanders said. “Their summer is the opposite of ours, so this was in January. I went down for two weeks with several of my colleagues in school and we taught at this orchestra music camp. Fast forward many years, I got the opportunity to go down to that same camp, this time as the conductor of the orchestra, but still mentoring Oberlin students. That program has continued to exist. I think the first year was in 1991. I went in 1993. It continued for decades.”
Flanders participated in that program for several years before the COVID pandemic hit and she and her peers were unable to continue. During that time, the partner organization of Panama functionally dissolved due to the death of its founder.
“When I came to Idaho State University in the fall of 2022, I applied for a grant to go back to Panama to work with a different camp that was funded by a different organization,” Flanders said. “I got an internal small grant from ISU and in summer of 2023 I went down to teach at this other camp. I went and conducted this small professional chamber orchestra. I did a really wonderful weeklong conducting workshop that was attended by (everyone from) university professors to a couple of 13 year olds who are extremely passionate about music and very interested in conducting.”
In May, thanks to a travel grant from the ISU College of Arts and Letters, Flanders was able to return to Panama to conduct the National Symphony Orchestra of Panama.
“This is the one big professional orchestra funded by the government in the country,” Flanders said. “We did a very ambitious program. Our soloist we worked with was a Panamanian horn player, Alberto Lin, who I had known since 2016. This was the first time I had worked with the national symphony. It was a really fascinating experience. It was very moving for me, because there are players in the orchestra, like the soloist who I've known since 2016.”
Flanders continued, “To see them now having arrived at the point where they're playing with the highest professional orchestra in the country is really exciting. Panama is an incredibly beautiful country. There's a lot of chaos in the daily life in Panama, which is perhaps easiest summed up with the traffic, which it can take you three hours to get from one side of the city to the other depending on the time of day, depending on how much torrential rain has just fallen in the space of half an hour and depending on construction. There are a lot of unknowns. I find that within the somewhat chaotic environment, the musicians are extremely eager to learn. They're eager for new ideas and new input. It's been always a really rewarding experience for me to have these collaborations.”
Music is not particularly well-funded in Panama and while Flanders was there, she did a lot of research into finding potential partner organizations, meeting with the head of the cultural department of the American embassy in Panama along with the conductor of the University of Panama.
“There are lots of other areas of need in the country and the arts are not necessarily at the top of the list,” Flanders said. “There's also a discussion about where orchestral music fits into the culture because they have an extremely rich folklore music and culture. The orchestral tradition is a different tradition from the folkloric tradition.”
In a general sense, the United States has a different expectation and stringency surrounding the musical arts, especially concerning high-end orchestras. Many ambitious Panamanian students who want to have a professional career in music plan on studying in the U.S. or in Europe since their home country may not have the same professional expectations or discipline as other places across the globe.
Panama would also benefit from additional monetary support systems and a greater level of attentiveness from its governing body relating to the musical arts, Flanders said.
“It is also just being in a different culture and speaking a different language," Flanders said. "It's a huge cultural learning experience to be in a different country and to be often working with people who are not too far from you and your age. There's a common bond and to be sharing music is the universal language. It's a way that people can connect, even when communication is sometimes difficult when your first language is not the same.”
Flanders continued, “That's an experience I would love for some of our advanced students here at ISU to have to be able to join me to go down to Panama to teach and to share what they know. I would also love to bring some of my colleagues from the music department as soloists to perform with some of the orchestras there.”
Flanders' current hope is to be able to secure private funding to help with bringing ISU students to Panama and bring Panamanian musicians to study at ISU.
“Latin American music is a passion of mine — our whole season last year was music of Latin America and to be sharing a learning environment with people from other countries really enhances the learning experience for our own Idaho students as well,” Flanders said. “I'm very hopeful that we can have a more international student body in the music department in the future.”
While Flanders hesitates to say that music is radically transformed because of her influence in Panama she does think that change happens through people and through the work that people do.
“I certainly see my influence on and my connection to people who are doing really good work,” Flanders said. “It's all about the people, and the people that I've connected with there are so full of joy. As a teacher that's what motivates me, if somebody's hungry to learn and what I have to teach them they find to be of benefit, that is incredibly satisfying to me. There's something really beautiful about going back and having an extended connection with a place.”
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