Two free symphonic concerts in Asunción on Tuesday

Asunción will host two free symphonic concerts on Tuesday, September 8, with one performance at the Municipal Theatre and another in the Santísima Trinidad neighborhood.

At 8 p.m., the National Congress Symphony Orchestra, known as the OSIC, will present the seventh concert in its 2026 International Official Cycle at the Ignacio A. Pane Municipal Theatre. Diego Sánchez Haase will conduct, with Dutch pianist Gile Bae and Paraguayan violinist Juan Ignacio López appearing as soloists.

The program, titled “Counterpoints: From Bach to Contemporary Music,” will bring together works by Nicolás Ramírez Salaberry, Max Bruch, Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It will open with the world premiere of Ramírez Salaberry’s “Sonic Evocation, for Symphonic Orchestra,” included in the OSIC’s 2026 Composers’ Residency. López will perform Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, while Bae will play piano concertos by Bach and Mozart.

Bae, born in Rotterdam in 1994, began her piano career at a very young age and won numerous first prizes in international competitions during her childhood and adolescence. She later left the competition circuit to focus on her artistic development. Her career has included performances with orchestras and at venues across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas, as well as work with pianist Sir András Schiff and a 2025 solo debut at Vienna’s Konzerthaus.

The Asunción City Symphony Orchestra, or OSCA, will also perform at 8 p.m. at the Prof. Emilio Ferreira Basic School. José Miguel Echeverría will conduct the fifth concert in the “Sinfonía Divertida in the Neighborhoods of Asunción” cycle, which aims to bring symphonic music to audiences of all ages.