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By Jorge
Conte-Porras
Alfredo de Saint Malo was born in Panama City in 1898. As a child, his
parents enrolled him in a little school directed by Narciso Garay
Díaz to take violin lessons. Thanks to his exceptional
talent,
in 1915 the government of Panama granted Saint Malo a scholarship to
study violin at the Paris Conservatory. He enrolled as a full
time student in 1916. Upon graduation in 1919, he received the coveted Premier
Prix de Violin and the same
year he played as soloist at the age
of 21. In 1925, after an invitation from an artistic association in New
York, Saint Malo performed various concerts there, and immediately
after, in other U. S. cities. Reviewers and listeners agreed
that
he had incomparable talent. He spent a long concert season in
California after signing a contract with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
In 1929 Saint Malo made a successful tour of Italy. In Rome
he
was welcomed by Pope Pío XII, and according to the October
27,
1929 of Panama’s newspaper La
Estrella de Panamá,
he played for Mussolini. Mussolini stated he had
never
heard before a violinist of such excellent quality. The newspaper also
stated: "Alfredo de Saint Malo was also welcomed by Pope
Pío XI in a private hearing. After listening to
Saint
Malo, the Pope blessed Saint Malo’s Stradivarius
violin.”
In 1930, Saint Malo
returned to Panama and was greeted
with countless accolades. Upon his arrival he performed
various
recitals at the National Theatre of Panama and at the recital hall of
the Instituto Nacional de
Panamá. In
1934 he was
invited to the White House to perform privately for president Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, his wife Eleanor, and various other relatives. Saint
Malo also performed many times with The National Symphony of Panama,
which was founded in 1941.
Eduardo Charpentier
Herrera notes, in a short biography
of Saint Malo: “In the year 1941 [Alfredo de Saint Malo] was
recruited by Dr. Arnulfo Arias, Panama’s president at the
time,
to become director of the newly founded National Conservatory of
Music.
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