Tuesday morning saw us back in the stunning Cecilia Meireles Symphony Hall for the second round of WASBE’s first ever conducting competition, featuring conductors from at least 3 continents. This morning, they conducted the University of Michigan Chamber Winds in Mozart’s C-minor Serenade and Stravinsky’s Octet while the rest of us looked on.

My lunchtime was framed with Fringe Festival concerts at the Leopold Miguez Concert Hall in the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). First came the Nilo Peçanha Symphonic Band, led by Marcelo Eterno Alves. They played mostly older Brazilian music, with a couple of familiar American band pieces thrown in at the end. They were followed by the UNIRIO Symphonic Band, led by Lélio Alves. This group featured a long list of tremendous soloists. Both groups were very exciting, and neither one fit on the stage! A substantial portion of each band played on the floor in front, but both balanced extraordinarily well, especially considering that their trombones were in the front row elevated above the woodwinds.

I returned to Cecilia Meireles Hall for the WASBE composition contest. Maestro Eduardo Pereira and the Brazilian Army Symphonic Band returned to this stage (minus their cello section) to read through all of the finalists in categories I and II (6 in all), plus the winner of category III. The pieces featured were:

Category I (grade 3-4, 8-10 minutes)

Mirage – Wes Coffin

Frozen in Time – Craig Sanders

Epos – René Camilieri

Category II (grade 5-6, 10-15 minutes)

Jux-transposition – Elson Kwong

Variations on the Water – Joel Rutherford

Wijsmuller – Ian Schwalbe

Category III (emerging composer)

The Missing Pulse – Jui-Ying (Ray) Huang

These compositions were all broadly similar, featuring dissonant and atmospheric textures, sectional forms, and most often surprise endings. The category I pieces sounded much harder than grade 3 and 4. In the end, Wes Coffin and Ian Schwalbe took the prizes. Congrats to all of the composers, and thanks to the band and the panel for their work!

I walked with some friends to another Fringe Festival concert featuring the Brazilian Marine Symphonic Band with several conductors. They were playing something symphonic as I walked over, but the rest of the show was an ever more ebullient series of Brazilian popular and patriotic songs, rapturously arranged for this band. They often featured an embedded rock band, including an absolutely SHREDDING guitarist, and some very charismatic vocalists. For the finale, the Brazilian Marine Marching Band also showed up!

The evening featured two concerts in Rio’s spectacular Theatro Municipal. We began (after some delays) with Brazil’s own Orquestra Municipal de Sopros de Lençóis Paulista “Agostinho Duarte Martins” led by Marcelo Maganha, and featuring many guests. Their entire concert was world premieres by Brazilian composers!

Abertura Festiva – Fernando Deddos

Ecos Originarios do Brasil – Ricardo Silva (Darrell Brown, guest conductor)

Tracks of Wonder – Alexandre Travassos (Dario Sotelo, guest conductor)

São Francisco – Gilson Santos (Everson Moraes, ophicleide)

Concerto para Trompete – Jose Ursicino da Silva (Maestro Duda), trans. João da Banda (Fabio Brum, trumpet)

This big and exuberant band was on a mission to show what Brazil can do, and they showed us a lot! The Deddos opened big, turning to a fugato before a confident ending. The Silva opened with harmonic clusters before settling into something of a stasis that allowed some beautiful melodies to emerge. The Travassos was a favorite of mine, essentially a delightful divertimento in six contrasting movements. The Santos was a first for me – an ophicleide concerto! Essentially, it answered the question of what would happen if you took an ophicleide to the jungle. The da Silva ran through a series of five popular styles with some stunning trumpet work by Fabio Brum. An inspiring performance all around!

Bonus ophicleide video (which I sadly went home too early to see in person):

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14jwn2a5w8Z/

Next came a band from Colombia, the Banda Sinfónica de la Universidad Javeriana, led by Patricia Vanegas.

Obertura Mestiza – Victoriano Valencia Rincón

Landscapes: Three Colombian Sketches for Trumpet and Band – Daniel Alberto Moreno V. (Juan Felipe Lince, trumpet)

Fantasia en la Sabana – Jhoan Infante

Suite 1819 – Juan Sebastián Velasco Serna

San Pelayo – Victoriano Valencia Rincón

This program and this band just brought pure joy to the room, couched in superb expressive musicianship (they moved together very well), supreme mastery of ensemble technique, and a rhythmic sense beyond almost anything I have heard in so large a group. They also had a dedicated fan base sitting right behind me in the balcony, cheering “COLOMBIAAAAA!” at the best possible moments. Of their music, the Moreno was a highlight for me, with a great mix of (I’m guessing) traditional rhythms and symphonic writing that told a great story. While the trumpet soloist was great, the real runaway superstar of the night was the maraca player. As a friend said, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard melodic maraca playing before.” Maestra Vanegas was also spectacular, guiding the ensemble through a massive dynamic pallet and guiding them effortlessly through some of the most complex rhythmic grooves I think I’ve ever heard. The whole program was terrific. I left in a bit of a delighted daze, and I was certainly not alone.