The Closing Credits

Koen Van Landeghem (CUP Regional Director for Latin America), Stephen Bourne (Chief Executive, CUP) and Cecilia Gomez (CUP Sales Manager for Chile and Uruguay)

Britten Sinfonia's visit to South America has been one of its largest projects in almost 15 years of concert giving. Many people contributed to the outstanding success of the tour, and we would like to record our thanks to them all.

The promoters: Sociedade de Cultura Artistica (Gerald Perret and his team in Sao Paulo), Mozarteum Argentino (Gisela Timmermann and her colleagues), and the Centro Cultural de Musica (Vera de Bergengruen and her staff in Montevideo).

The funders and sponsors: Arts Council England, East; Arts & Business; British Council; Cambridge University Press (especially their staff based in Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Cambridge).

Tour management: Kaarina Meyer (representing Van Walsum Management).

John Bickley

Britten Sinfonia's final concert in South America (on this tour!)

Our last concert on the tour, in Sao Paulo, had a (huge) audience of music afficianados, who seemed to delight in every piece. The Bach concerto blazed, the MacMillan puzzled, amused and amazed again, and then encores were demanded, so we heard two of Joanna MacGregor's dazzling Astor Piazzolla arrangements. This concert was a real high for the players - you can tell from their relaxed manner, and the added vigour this seems to bring to their playing.

When we arrived back here on Sunday, it was almost like coming home. Everyone has exactly the same rooms in the hotel as last week and there is an ease bred by the familiarity with the location. Favourite restaurants are re-visited, the hotel barmen seem like old friends, and nothing seems too much trouble for our hosts. Those who are thus in Sao Paulo for the second time are beginning to understand why those in the group who have been here many times know that this is one of the most dynamic cities on the planet: culturally diverse, economically driven, and with an exciting arts scene. It has been both a privilege and a revelation for Britten Sinfonia to have added to that scene.

A few players are going to the coast for a short holiday. The rest of us are off to the airport in half an hour, to fly back to London. Our next project, with Carolyn Sampson, begins immediately we return!

I'll put some more reviews and photos up in a couple of days, so do return for the final chapter of this blog.

John Bickley

Creative Learning in Sao Paulo

Lizzie Ball took a masterclass this morning at the Tom Jobim School of Music, a centre of excellence for young musicians from all over Sao Paulo. She worked with a string quartet and then spent time coaching two violinists.

Buenos Aires and Montevideo

Our second concert in Buenos Aires received an excellent response - we were not sure how James MacMillan’s Piano Concerto no. 2 would go down, but the audience reaction was very, very positive. We always try to include new repertoire for audiences and the MacMillan, along with two pieces by Britten, were all Argentinian premieres. Post-concert steam was let off at a traditional tango bar, in a building of faded grandeur; intense music, intimate, complex dance manouevres, endlessly interesting to watch, and the real thing, not some tourist show.

Another whistle-stop visit to a fascinating city: I did manage to accomplish several of the things I always try to do to get a flavour: a look round a supermarket, a trip on the metro (11p to go anywhere), and a visit to the central station to stare longingly at the names of strange places on the departures board, and a quick copa of vino tinto in the station cafe, which here was a magnificent Belle Epoque room, with a brilliant glass ceiling and chandeliers.

And so, on to Montevideo. Impressions on arrival were mixed. The drive into the city from the airport goes along the coast of the River Plate estuary, and the buildings look just like Saint Tropez or Cannes. But the city itself is then a mix of ramshackle streets, with sudden plazas surrounded by grand buildings, a busy port area, huge statues of 19th century Uruguayan patriots on horsebacks, and then luxury hotels with their own armed guards to separate the guests from the many very poor people living on the streets.

Our concert was in the recently restored Teatro Solis, a magnificent traditional horseshoe shaped opera theatre with five stories of boxes and a not bad acoustic. Joanna MacGregor was in great form, the orchestra probably played the best yet on the tour, and again the very well-heeled audience got excited about the repertoire.

The evening had started with another reception hosted for local English Language Schools by our sponsor, Cambridge University Press. After the concert several of the players and the management team were invited to a dinner hosted by HM Ambassador at the Residence: a chance to meet a diverse range of people from the Uruguayan music scene, and some diplomats with a deep interest in music. I was unaware that there was a Bulgarian Ambassador to the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, but I can report that he is now a great fan of James MacMillan’s music. Nor did I know that the Anglican Bishop of Uruguay is also the Bishop of Cuba (someone at Lambeth Palace must have a strange sense of geography). The only way to round off such a day was more tango, this time in a very trendy, stylishly designed bar, with much younger dancers to watch (while trying some local wines).

I'll add a few photos later.

John Bickley

5 star review in La Nacion

Our first concert received an excellent review in La Nacion this morning.

"...una orquesta de cámara sin mácula y a una personalidad de nuestro tiempo, sencillamente incomparable."

You can see the full article and a photo of Joanna MacGregor during the concert at www.lanacion.com.ar/905800.

John Bickley

Photos from our Creative Learning session in Buenos Aires

Lizzie Ball working with her group on composing a piece.



Julia Vohralik discusses ideas with her group of children.

The inspirational director of music at Northlands School, Humberto Lopez.

Creative Learning in Buenos Aires

The British Council has been one of the key financial backers of this tour, and one element it has particularly wanted to support is a programme of Creative Learnng activity. Time is short on such a densely packed tour, but early today Marcus and Lizzie (violins), Clive (viola) and Julia (cello) headed off to Northlands School, far in the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires. The morning-long session had been organised by the inspirational director of music there, Humberto Lopez. He had gathered together 40 children, aged from 8-14, from 6 schools across the city. After a short performance by our players of a medley of Irish and English folksong and shanty arrangements (with dancing demonstrations included), they soon had the children taking part in learning rounds, including ‘London Bridge is falling down’.

Many of the children spoke brilliant English and with their help, and that of a professional interpreter, little time was wasted with language problems. Each of our musicians then worked with a smaller group of children, encouraging them to create a collective piece of music, using the random instruments many of the children had brought along. The results, after under an hour’s work, were amazing - four very different, highly characterful pieces of music. At the end, one wished there had been more time to work with this and other groups of children; how brilliant it would have been if they could have come to hear one of our evening concerts. Above all, what a strong sense there was of the desire and need on the part of the children to make the most of the opportunity offered to them (something which has largely been squeezed out of so many children in the UK by the time they reach this age).

Fortunately, there will be follow-up on this project, as Lizzie is planning to spend several months in Argentina, and has undertaken to help lead more such Creative Learning sessions.

Apologies for the lack of photos; upload speeds are impossibly slow - I hope to add them when we get back to Brazil.

John Bickley

Concerts in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires

The Torre Paris cafe is just what one imagines a Buenos Aires cafe to be: a vaguely Parisian feel, but with a menu, decor and - crucially - waiters who could only be Argentinian. It is half-an-hour after the second concert of our tour. As Joanna MacGregor enters the cafe for a post-concert glass of wine, everyone stands up and cheers. These are the older members of our audience tonight, who have heard everything from Bach to Osvaldo Golijov, from Stravinsky to Joanna’s stunning solo encore of Libertango: and yet they respond with complete admiration and affection for a programme some of them must have found challenging.

Yesterday, we did the same programme in Sao Paulo. The response was brilliant: not an automatic response, more an indication of genuine enjoyment of a very special Britten Sinfonia programme. Two Bach keyboard concerti - we can do the light and airy baroque string sound too - the aggressive Golijov, the deeply intense world of Britten’s Lachrymae, and Joanna’s own very clever, atmospheric arrangements of Dowland and vibrant Gismonti interpretations. A warm reaction from a packed audience. We will be back in Sao Paulo next week on the 7th - details are on our website.

Cambridge University Press reception starts tour

The iconic image of King's College Chapel is one we Cambridge residents get used to seeing in many contexts. But it was still a surprise to see it at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sao Paulo, displayed behind the barman. Cambridge University Press is Britten Sinfonia's most substantial corporate supporter, so the synergy between our tour of South America and CUP's activity here in South America is compelling. The photo of the chapel as one of the centrepiece images at CUP's reception to celebrate their success in the region and the start of Britten Sinfonia's tour was therefore apt. Stephen Bourne, Chief Executive of CUP and a member of Britten Sinfonia's board, hosted the reception with local director Joao Madureira. The 50 guests then went on to the opening concert of Britten Sinfonia's tour.


Stephen Bourne (CUP), David Butcher (Britten Sinfonia) and Christina Thornton (Cultura Inglesa)





John Bickley

Food before music

It is not easy to avoid sweeping generalisations in these occasional updates (maybe that is one of the defining characteristics of blogs), but here goes: checking out a new place through its food has to be one of the best ways of getting a superficial feel for the local culture. It is fraught with ambiguities, of course, because how do you define ‘local’, something which is as complex here in Sao Paulo as it is in London. But it has to be better than talking about the shape of the plugs (although it is splendid that man’s ingenuity is so diverse that there are so many different designs of plugs and sockets in the world). So last night lots of us went to Fogo de Chao, one of the more famous churrascaria restaurants. If you are a vegetarian, stop here. Before you even have a moment to visit the salad bar, a steady stream of waiters encircles the table with endless types and cuts of meats on huge skewers which are carved directly onto your plate. Once they realise you are a group of English visitors they bring out little charts of cows with arrows pointing to every part of the anatomy, each described in graphic detail. The lamb was particularly brilliant. Every churrascaria provides a method of letting the waiters know you want to pause: here your wine mat was red on one side and green on the other. How genuinely local it all is, I am not sure, as this restaurant is part of a chain with more branches in the USA than in Brazil, but anyway it was great fun, and if the social side is going well, the music-making tends to be better!

First concert tonight..................

John Bickley

It’s a public holiday here in Sao Paulo today, so the drive in from the airport was blissfully free of traffic. The best concert tours depend on efficient and friendly local promoters, good hotels and splendid breakfasts, all three of which we experienced this morning. The players have the rest of the day free, so as I write, they are spreading out across the city to start exploring, the Museu de Arte Moderna and the Parque do Ibirapuera being popular early destinations. In fact I even saw at four players in the hotel lobby about to set off on a run - not a bad way to get rid of the effects of overnight flights (although I think I will stick to swimming in the pool). Joanna MacGregor is, however, working today and plans to practise later on the piano at the Teatro Cultura Artistica, the concert hall we are playing in tomorrow. I’ll bring you some of her insights into the programmes we are giving later.

If anyone wants to get tickets for the concert tomorrow night, details of the box-office are on our website www.brittensinfonia.co.uk. You can also find information about the programme, which includes works by Bach, Dowland (arr. MacGrgeor), Britten, Golijov, Stravinsky and Egberto Gismonti.
John Bickley

En route

So, at last we are en route and our South American tour has begun. We have made it to Madrid! Every orchestral tour is a delicate balance between the comfort of the players and the financial realities of the arts world. So, a direct flight (which, eccentrically, is more expensive) from London to Sao Paulo is not possible. But there is a certain logic travelling via Madrid, an Iberian springboard from the Old World to the New.

The musicians are in good temper and eagerly anticipating the concerts.

This is, for me, my 16th concert tour to Brazil, but it is five years since I was last there - 'saudade' is the untranslatable word which describes the yearning for return. I look forward to keeping you up to date with the tour, with lots of artistic comment!

John Bickley

South American tour video preview

See two of our players talking about the forthcoming tour.

Almost there!

We're all getting very excited because the tour is only just around the corner! Come back soon for our first post from South America...

our website

Visit Britten Sinfonia website for tour details

Check out www.brittensinfonia.co.uk/tours/southamerica.html to find out more about the tour. This blogspot will grow day by day as we add on new materials relating to the tour, but do look at our site for all the background information as well.

Britten Sinfonia (Juan Gonzalez 1)

Britten Sinfonia (Juan Gonzalez 1)
Originally uploaded by brittensinfonia.

This is Juan Gonzalez, first violin with Britten Sinfonia. Juan is originally from Venezuela and offers an interesting perspective on touring to South America with a British orchestra.

Britten Sinfonia (Jacqueline Shave 1)

Britten Sinfonia (Jacqueline Shave 1)
Originally uploaded by brittensinfonia.

This is Jacqueline Shave, the leader of Britten Sinfonia. Visit Britten Sinfonia's website to see what Jackie says about the trip to South America next month.

South America Tour, 2-7 May 2007

Britten Sinfonia's first inter-continental tour takes us to three Latin American countries: Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina

Teaming music by South American and British composers with Bach and Stravinsky, the two touring programmes are a typical Britten Sinfonia mix of the old and new. Joanna MacGregor directs the orchestra from the piano in James MacMillan's whirlwind-like second piano concerto (which we premiered with Joanna in 2004) as well as her own arrangements of Egberto Gismonti pieces and Dowland 's heart-rending lute songs. We also play music by Argentinian-born, Jewish composer Osvaldo Golijov.