A dream that became a stage

Thirty-five years, told plainly

1. 1991

   The school opens

   In September, Rosana opens Academia Musical La Scala in Popayán as a music school. Dance and theatre soon follow, for the city’s children and young people.

2. 1993

   Musical theatre arrives

   The first Christmas musical: Algo Maravilloso Soñé (“I Dreamed Something Wonderful”). There has been one every year since. In Cauca, the genre barely had a home. This was one of the first.

3. 1994

   The foundation is born

   On 26 September 1994 the Fundación Academia Musical La Scala is legally constituted as a non-profit organisation.

4. 1999

   Alas para soñar (“Wings to Dream”)

   With the city under siege for more than a month and food running short, Rosana did not cancel the production. People told her no one would come. There were two performances. The theatre was full. That is how she has told it.

5. 2003

   A recognition, and a programme

   The city government recognised it as a music-training institution and entrusted it with the music room of the Parque Informático Carlos Albán. Between 2003 and 2005, Unas Notas por la Paz (“A Few Notes for Peace”) reached more than 800 children living in hard circumstances.

6. 2010

   Cultural institution of the year

   The newspaper El Liberal names it Cultural Institution of the Year. By then its productions had already travelled beyond Popayán.

7. Bogotá

   The Colón, by Hercules

   A production reached the Teatro Colón. The Colombian Air Force flew the cast in a Hercules aircraft. For many children and their families it was their first time outside Popayán, and their first night in a hotel. They have also performed at the Jorge Isaacs and the Enrique Buenaventura theatres in Cali.

8. 2014–2015

   Momo

   More than fifty children and young people on stage at the Guillermo Valencia, in an adaptation of Michael Ende’s book. The local press urged the city’s schools to see it.

9. 2020

   La Scala llega hasta tu Barrio

   In the middle of the pandemic, the season (“La Scala Comes to Your Neighbourhood”) went out to Popayán’s neighbourhoods on giant screens, for more than 3,500 people.

10. 2023

    CoCrea, a first for Cauca

    In the 2023 CoCrea (Corporación Colombia Crea Talento) call, La Scala’s project scored 94 out of 100 and ranked among the forty best in the country, first in Cauca. That year, El Espíritu de la Navidad (“The Spirit of Christmas”), an original work, was staged in a non-traditional venue.

11. 2024

    Reflejos

    A musical about water and Cauca’s biodiversity (Reflejos, “Reflections”), with 140 artists on stage, including the Comfacauca Symphony Orchestra, at the Guillermo Valencia (10 November).

12. 2025

    Sonidos de la Convivencia, Eleonora and a choir at the opera

    In May, the children’s choir, directed by Karen Córdoba, sang in the first performance in Colombia of Umberto Giordano’s Mese mariano, a co-production with the Universidad del Cauca. In June, with Banco Mundo Mujer as a contributor through CoCrea, Sonidos de la Convivencia (“Sounds of Living Together”) held auditions and launched on 25 June. In December, season 33 premiered Eleonora Scrooge en el espejo del tiempo (“Eleonora Scrooge in the Mirror of Time”), with the Comfacauca Symphony Orchestra.

13. 2026

    Thirty-five years

    In June, a joint programme with Comfacauca (Caja de Compensación Familiar del Cauca) for its 60th anniversary.

14. 2031

    The horizon

    To be, in Colombia, a reference point for artistic training and for creation with social impact: sustainable, connected with the world, useful for living together. The principle does not change.

Here are some press articles about us

Articles in Spanish.

• CoCrea2026
• El País2025
• Meridiano Regional2025
• El Tiempo2026
• Opera World2025
• La Campana2024
• Proclama del Pacífico2014