It’s time for another combined entry, since there has been so much going on! I took Friday morning to go exploring, ending up back at Copacabana and walking on the beach for a while. The weather was a little gloomy, meaning the beach was all but deserted. If this sounds idyllic, that’s because it was! But it was also temporary. The rains came, and I had a long walk back to shelter. Still, worth it.
I joined the conference activities for the finals of the conductor competition. Each of the three finalists conducted the Mannheimer Bläserphilharmonie e.V. in one substantial piece, as follows:
Zamora 1143 – Nelson Jesus (German David Hernandez Tovar, conductor)
Apricity – Hilary Purrington (Antonia Dehmer, conductor)
Twist – Jodie Blackshaw (Michael Gabriel, conductor)
I found the Jesus especially impressive (like the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, perhaps?). It was by turns menacing and pretty, with a wild ride in 13/8 as its finale. The Purrington seemed to be based on bells, even as it ended in chord clusters. The Blackshaw recreated more jungle scenes with astonishing vividness and a ton of solo opportunities. In the end, German David Hernandez Tover triumphed as the winner of this first competition. Congrats to him, and all of the finalists, on their outstanding work!
Next up was the Tatui Conservatory Symphonic Band from Brazil, led by Marco Almeida Jr. late in the afternoon. They played:
Pochito – Mariela Paz (Chris Westover-Muñoz, guest conductor)
Chôro Rapsódia n. 1 – Hudson Noguiera (Giancarlo Medeiros, bari sax)
Suíte Guanabara – Osvaldo Lacerda
Symphony no. 2 “Voices” – James Stephenson
This band came to PLAY, and I was fortunate to be sitting exactly in the blast radius of their amazing bass trombone section. The Paz depicted a chaotic Chilean street band festival, complete with bombastic bass drums. I’m very much looking forward to exploring it (full disclosure: the composer has been helping me with my Spanish all week, and the guest conductor is my roommate here). The Nogueira was pure Hollywood. The Lacerda suite featured only the last two movements, but I found them especially intriguing, with searching themes and a great mix of academic and vernacular styles. The Stephenson was utterly astonishing on several levels. There was a soprano soloist on stage who remained seated throughout, audibly emerging only occasionally, but almost every instance was a surprise and a fascinating color change. The second movement used several sets of crash cymbals to achieve an emotional overload. Stephenson clearly has a knack for the architecture of large pieces, as this symphony left a strong impression as a whole single work, even with its broad diversity of individual moments. This band also served it especially well!
The evening’s concerts began with another appearance of the Mannheimer Bläserphilharmonie e.V., led by Miguel Ercolino, this time in a feature concert of their own.
Mannemer Rakete – Evgeni Orkin (a band member!)
To Celebrate a Miracle – Samuel Adler
Symphony no. 6 – Ferrer Ferrán
This band really filled the hall with both sound and audience cheer! The Orkin began with minimalist textures, from which melodies slowly emerged and then dominated. The Adler seems to have been a collection of Hannukah songs set for band. The musical language was something akin to Norman Dello Joio’s Variants on a Medieval Tune and Scenes from the Louvre. The Ferran was an excellent showpiece for this band, who definitively demonstrated their ability to play LOUD!
Next came the Oregon State University Wind Ensemble, led by Erik Leung.
Slops and Fountains – Olin Hannum
The Promise of Living – Aaron Copland (trans. Kenneth Singleton)
I, Too, Am America – Henry Dorn (4th movement, “Summer Night”, with soprano Jasmine Johnson)
Symphony no. 2: Migration – Adam Schoenberg
After the very loud Mannheim group, the Hannum seemed polite by comparison. But it set the stage well for the Copland, in a truly tender performance. The Dorn was a wonderful showpiece for a further reduced ensemble, including some terrific solos, and the elegant Johnson. The whole gang migrated back to stage for the Schoenberg, which explored the promise and perils of migration in convincing fashion.
And that brings us to Saturday, the final day of the conference! While writing this (around the beginning of Mannheim’s section), I was invited to a delightful lunch at Confeitaria Colombo near the Theatro Municipal. This place has excellent pastries and sandwiches and is completely covered with mirrors and other beautiful details on the inside. Highly recommended for Rio travelers! I had time afterwards to peruse Rio’s Rua da Carioca, where several musical instrument shops are clustered together. At the subsequent WASBE general meeting, outgoing WASBE president Miguel Etchegoncelay passed the reins to new president Joop Boerstoel. They also officially announced (although it was no secret) that the 2028 conference will be held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, hosted by Angela Schroeder. I’ll be there for sure!
The marquee event of the afternoon was the WASBE World Youth Wind Orchestra concert, directed by Tobias Volkmann and Brian Messier, our final event at the beautiful Theatro Municipal. This group featured young players from 12 countries! They played:
Chacona Amazônica – Marlos Nobre
A Pageant of Figures and Passing Bells – Kenneth Hesketh (world premiere)
Sinfonía Nomáda – Arturo Márquez
Marcha Sonora – aurora del norte – Arturo Márquez (trans. Messier)
Despite being from 12 different countries, this ensemble played with full cohesion and mutual understanding of this difficult music, due in no small part to the talents of both conductors. For me, the Márquez symphony was a highlight. Drums announced each movement, adding whistles in the finale, and the rest of the work seemed to grow organically out that. Like Schoenberg the night before, Márquez explored migration from different angles, situated fully in our current world of ICE raids and border walls.
As this concert ended, we were greeted by buses outside the Theatro, which whisked us to São José Fortress for the official closing ceremony of the conference. This fortress is the home of the Brazilian Navy, whose bands we heard earlier in the week, and who provided a lot of support during the conference. When I say this ceremony was an over-the-top extravaganza, I do it no justice at all. Among its features were a full concert band, a moving conductor podium, fireworks, projections on the facade of the fortress (often AI generated, boo), actors playing famous Brazilian composers, tanks, canons, an illuminated marching band that included bagpipes, children playing instruments in costume, other children playing instruments in their usual concert black, an electric guitar duel, another duel between an electric guitarist and a bagpiper, drones filming all of the action, and perhaps most electrifying, speeches from several of the important people involved in the conference. I know that sounds like sarcasm, but they were actually quite good speeches, even for those of us who don’t understand Portuguese! And there were easily 1000 people there watching it. No amount of description can do it justice.
I had one extra day, which I spent visiting the famous Christ the Redeemer statue and taking funiculars up Sugarloaf Mountain with friends, while also sampling a good bit of local food. My return home was as calm and predictable as my journey to Rio wasn’t. So now I sit, comfortably on my couch at home, reflecting on the experience. WASBE has allowed me to hear bands from around the world, absorbing what makes each culture, and indeed each band, special in its own way. It has also taken me to amazing places that I might otherwise not have visited. But more importantly, WASBE has enabled me to make friends from almost every corner of the globe. At this point, I have deepened some of these relationships over many years, and I have people that I look forward to seeing at every WASBE event. There is so much that WASBE has to offer, and I treasure my involvement in it.
Thus ends the WASBE conference! I look forward to seeing everyone in Edmonton in 2028!