Cost Rican Music

Everywhere you visit in Latin America, you will notice something which, if you have ever travelled around Africa will note that both regions have in common. Music is an integral part of their cultures. In Africa people celebrate, grieve, protest and prepare for war with the aid of music. You sense that in South America music is as important and Costa Rica is no exception.

Latin, American and British rock, seventies and eighties music are very popular. However when it is time to dance most locals prefer to lose themselves to the multilayered and percussion based rhythms of their region.

The music in Costa Rica is diverse. From classical to calypso, music can be heard everywhere in the country - in the streets, homes, restaurants, bars, discos and theatres, wherever you go in Costa Rica you will rarely be greeted with silence. There will always be music, somewhere in the background. If you love music and have some time on your hands, it is a great place to volunteer in Latin America, for instance.

Salsa, meringue, cumbia, lambada and soca, more than any other music, brings people onto the dance floors wherever you go in Cost Rica. The dancing is very much the chat-up lines of those whose talents are exceptional. Men and women converse with their bodies, feeling each other out through endless vibrant grooves that compel their limb and torso to gyrate, buckle and sway in unpredictably beautiful ways.

In terms of classical music, the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional is recognised worldwide and has received international acclaim under the direction of its current conductor, Chosei Komatsu. It is recognised as one of the major orchestras of Latin America. So, if you are looking for classical music while in the country, the San Jose's National Theater hosts a variety of concerts, in the classical music genre - from classical guitar to solo pianists and grand symphony orchestras. Other venues which might be of interest and worth checking out are the Teatro Mozart and the Costa Rican and North American Cultural Center.

If music is what you find most attractive about the country, volunteer in Costa Rica. It will be a great way to find out more about what the country has to offer – be it jazz, folk, calypso or contemporary Costa Rican music.