Journeys into Brazilian Music

Marés is a video project exploring the vast and captivating world of Brazilian classical and traditional music. The project, officially launched in 2021 as a commission from the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is filled with aesthetic experimentations drawing on the visual possibilities of music performance. This was be the first live presentation of the project by part of the ensemble of fantastic creative professionals who brought this great project to life. This event counted with the institutional support of the Embassy of Brazil in London.

PERFORMERS

Becky Wang, Yi-Hsuan Chen, Mina Middleton (flutes)

Lucas Jordan (flute & pifano)

Carla Ruaro (piano & percussion)

Fabricio Mattos (guitar)

The Universes of the Accordion

Accordionist Alise Silina offers a mind-blowing exploration of the universe of possibilities contained within the sounds of the accordion. This event is carefully designed to entrance the audience in a reflexion about the nature of love, following a storyline conducted by a narrator, who might be real or not. This event will also include the launch of the 'Creation' of 'Aethereally', by Bernardo Simões, on the NEW STAGES CREATIONS video platform, a work for accordion and oboe that invites listeners to a nearly psychedelic journey of lights, colours and textures translated into an enthralling piece of audio-visual art.

PERFORMER

Alise Silina (accordion)

Beyond Tango

In this event Lucas Jordan (flute), Daryl Giuliano (cello), Fabricio Mattos (guitar) and Iñigo Mikeleiz-Berrade (accordion) created an unforgettable palette of emotions with Astor Piazzolla’s music, deeply valuing his absolute compositional control over a vast range of musical ideas.

PERFORMERS

Lucas Jordan (flute)

Iñigo Mikeleiz-Berrade (accordion)

Daryl Giuliano (cello)

Fabricio Mattos (guitar)

Music & Poetry

Since the launch of her book in 2019 Doing the Rounds published by Indigo Dreams, the poet Audrey Ardern-Jones has received many enthusiastic reviews, including Paul Stephenson’s comments ‘…a poet with an artist’s painterly sensibility, a musician’s fine ear, a nurse’s affinity for strangers and their plight.’ This event of readings from her book was accompanied by the Poetry & Music Ensemble, with Lucas Jordan on the flute, and Fabricio Mattos on the guitar. The ensemble offers a unique take on the musicality of poetry and on the poetics of music, and was founded in the 1980s by Audrey and revived in 2013 for performances in venues such as the Royal Overseas League and the Royal College of Nursing.

PERFORMERS

Audrey Ardern-Jones (reciting)

Lucas Jordan (flute)

Fabricio Mattos (guitar)

New Perspectives

Although counting with centuries of playing tradition, the piano is an instrument that can still surprise even the most specialized listeners with its idiomatic character and captivating sound. Its power to transport listeners to other dimensions was explored by a vast array of composers from many eras and styles, and in this event pianist Nicolas Ventura presented a unique programme of original works and his own transcriptions of some of Prokofiev’s orchestral music, recently recorded in a dedicated album. Nicolas played on SEACC’s Broadwood & Sons from the late 19th century, a mature piano with a unique sound palette, which, together with the pianist’s virtuosic lyricism, added to the fascination of this event.

PERFORMER

Nicolas Ventura (piano)

Red Velvet

In every woman, lives a girl. Throughout life, they will experience many different colours of emotion, some corresponding more with the woman whilst others touch more so the girl; the integration of the two is the challenge. Singer Georgia Knower and guitarist Fabricio Mattos have chosen three paths for the lives and experiences of three imagined women: Red Velvet, White Silk and Black Leather, each with their own set of pieces and storyline. Travelling freely between several musical genres and sung in various languages, each path is a unique cross-cultural experience filled with powerful and unforgettable moments. This event featured the Red Velvet path.

PERFORMERS

Georgia Knower (voice)

Fabricio Mattos (guitar)

Brass Music from the Americas

London Central Brass is an exciting new name in the world of brass chamber music. At their core, the group believes in promoting new and overlooked music and reinventing classic quintet repertoire in a new and exciting way. In this event, they performed music that originates from across the Americas, including composers from the United States, Uruguay, and Brazil, showcasing modern brass quintet classics by composers such as Jan Bach and Enrique Crespo, as well as a world premiere of a work by Bernardo Simões. This was a powerful demonstration of the varying styles and influences throughout the Americas, supported by the rich musical palette of a brass ensemble. This event counted with the partnership of Poliphonia.

PERFORMERS

London Central Brass

Her Music

Concert programmes, particularly in Europe, have been historically dominated by male composers, with very few exceptions. And it seems that our societies and institutions in the 21st century, although praising equality and diversity, are still not dedicating to women composers the space they deserve by their own merit. In this event, soprano Gabriella Di Laccio, who is also founder of the highly-praised charity DONNE – Women in Music, performed a fascinating programme featuring works by women composers from past and present, alongside pianist Richard Leach. This event counted with the partnership of DONNE – Women in Music.

PERFORMERS

Gabriella Di Laccio (voice)

Richard Leach (piano)

Silence, Power, Harmony

This event took the audience through an infusion of contrasts guided by music and the Tao of tea. 靜 is stillness, tranquility, silence. 勁 is strength and power, reflected not only in one’s appearance, but also in the flow of their movements. Finally, 境 is a state of being that can be reached by exploring and experiencing contrasting states such as soft and hard, yin and yang, slow and fast. Just like the art forms of Chinese calligraphy and martial arts, music has the power to convey these profound concepts beyond the barriers of language. In this event, Yi-Hsuan Chen 陳 邑 瑄 (flute) and Anqi Qu 曲 安 琪 (guzheng) performed their rendition of 靜 勁 境, transporting the audience into a world of tranquility, strength, and diversity.

PERFORMERS

Yi-Hsuan Chen (flute)

Anqi Qu (guzheng)

Past & Future of theViol

From Monteverdi to Radiohead, this event featured new arrangements of music spanning over four centuries, centred on the art of selfaccompaniment across different genres. Intesa Duo, formed by viol players Lucine Musaelian and Nathan Giorgetti, was brought together by their common passion for the sound of the viol and its combination with the voice, as well as the overlap between folk and baroque music and the performance of new music on viols. Supported by their knowledge and experience with the historical performance of music in a contemporary context, this was a one-of-a-kind event marked by their ability to tell stories through their art, creating musical moments of unique depth, beauty and originality.

PERFORMERS

Lucine Musaelian & Nathan Giorgetti (viols)

Amazonian Music & Myths

Apart from being an important environmental asset to the whole world, the Amazon is also home to numerous multi-influenced cultures forged over many centuries. Igarapé is a Tupi word to the tributaries of rivers that cut through the forests; such arteries are well known by natives, just like we know streets and avenues in big cities. In this event, we presented a sample of the complex and rich Amazonian cultures, where ancient and contemporary worlds merge seamlessly in everyday life.

PERFORMERS

Seu Gaio (voice, percussion, mandolin)

Fabricio Mattos (guitar, percussion)

Bernardo Simoes (piano)

Gustavo Quintino & Fabricio Mattos

In this unusual combination, two Brazilian virtuosos, double-bassist Gustavo Quintino and guitarist Fabricio Mattos explored Brazilian music for double bass and guitar by living composers from many regions of the country. Interspersing solos with duets, Quintino and Mattos travelled around many soundscapes of Brazilian and South-American music, with works by composers such as Rodrigo Lima, Fabiano Borges and Sonia Ray, with special emphasis to the music of Villani-Côrtes.

PERFORMERS

Gustavo Quintino (double bass)

Fabricio Mattos (guitar)