Regional music was the inspiration for the culminating concerts of the activities of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra (OSB) with the students of the Vale Música 2020 program. Students from the municipalities of Corumbá (MS), Serra (ES) and Belém (PA) had classes with OSB teachers during a difficult year, where it was necessary to reinvent themselves.
During the classes, the desire to honor composers from regions where Vale Music projects take place arose. However, due to the pandemic, the meetings, which used to be in person, had to migrate to the virtual environment. An online partnership began between OSB musicians and students from virtual stage Vale Música that brings together students, conductors, teachers and admirers of good music.
The first concert is a partnership with the students of the Moinho Cultural Institute (MS), where they interpret “Sonhos Guaranis”, composition by Almir Sater, an important guitarist and instrumentalist from Mato Grosso do Sul, and Paulo Simões, who despite being born in Rio de Janeiro, grew up in Campo Grande, where he made his musical career.
For Felipe Gonçalves da Silva Arruda, a student at the Moinho Cultural Institute, the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra is for the musician an icon, an inspiration. “Playing with them, even if remotely, was a dream. And playing a song by Almir Sater is like swears up and down and think: ‘it’s home-grown’. In addition, reading and executing what an arranger of the level of Alexandre Queiroz wrote put in me a feeling of responsibility and capacity that I had not yet experienced “, said the young clarinet player.
For the artistic coordinator of the orchestra, Nikolay Sapoundjiev, developing this project with the Vale Cultural Institute is a source of great pride and joy. “We traveled or received students here in residence, but this past year it was not possible because of the pandemic. Even so, we carried out all our activities virtually and now we have released some culminating videos, exclusively with a Brazilian repertoire “, he comments.
The piece “Ardiloso”, by the “capixaba” [from Espírito Santo State] composer Mauricio de Oliveira, was the second online presentation that the talented students of Vale Música Serra, from Espírito Santo, shared with the virtual audience. In the third video, the Paraense composer and concertist, Salomão Habib is honored with the song “Cantiga de Penas”, performed by students from Vale Música Belém (PA) and musicians from OSB.
According to João Marcos Palheta, a student at the Vale Música Belém Project, contact, even online, added experience and learning: “It is extremely important, in the formation of a performer musician, a solid and efficient orientation, through this contact with the experienced professors of OSB. I was able to perfect techniques, interpretations, ways of playing in auditions and concerts. However, I can say that the guidelines brought me closer to a professional level, brought me musical maturity. The whole experience and range of information passed was extremely important to direct my learning and add experience in my career “, said the young clarinet player.
These actions are part of the Vale Música Program, an initiative of the Vale Cultural Institute, which encourages exchanges between students and musicians from professional orchestras, exchanges and sponsored musical projects. Students are part of musical training projects in four states in Brazil: Minas Gerais, Pará, Espírito Santo and Mato Grosso do Sul.
The videos were released on the networks of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, on January 13, 14 and 15, please see all them below: