2 - April Concerts and Upcoming News. Spring is Here!
Thank you for your subscription! The first feedback couldn’t be better, and having estimated subscribers such as you spread all over the world, I want to bring some news from the Big Apple!
The New York City weather is blooming into the spring, and so are the events and news in the upcoming weeks. Today, I want to talk about two things: First, the concerts in the month of April. Second, the recordings that I released last year.
Concerts
In 2023, I had a program that contemplated pieces that I premiered or collaborated with the composers, with works such as Impressiones Ibericas, (Sergio Assad), a piece I premiered its second version in NY, or the formidable Sonata by Vicente Paschoal, which I was the dedicatee of this piece. The reaction by the audiences both in the U.S. and Brazil was quite positive, but I was missing something. I had to bring and deliver my South American roots before endeavoring in such a repertoire, and here I am right now.
2024 Program - Saudade as the artistic drive
For this year, I premiered the repertoire called Saudade - South American Tales. The first concert was in Brooklyn last February, followed by Long Island, Manhattan, and other appearances. Currently, the program is reaching a more mature level. If you are in New York City and the area, there will be many opportunities to watch it in the upcoming weeks. If you are in Brazil or Europe, I will share the dates and places in upcoming issues of our newsletter.
The feeling of “Saudade'', a Portuguese word, is one of the most meaningful and powerful emotions to those who are acquainted with the term. In the English language, it appears frequently as an example of an expression without a proper translation. Some people may refer to it as the feeling of deeply missing someone, others may think about longing and an experience that is gone, or even losing someone or something you intensely loved. Despite those descriptions being more or less accurate, “Saudade” is also the feeling of being far far away from your home, whether one refers to a specific place or where the heart and mind settle peacefully. The repertoire of this program presents powerful pieces by South American composers that address the question and the timeless search for “Saudade” in different ways, along with pieces that surround such an environment.
On the second half of April, these are the dates and places:
APRIL 19 - Plucked Horizons Guitar Concert: Nostalgic Notes
At the historic site of the Seaport Hotel, in Manhattan, now lies an amazing concert series, led by Nicoletta Todesco, a phenomenal artist, composer, guitarist, singer, and more (check her website!).
As a description of the event:
Step into an evening of soulful narratives and the poignant embrace of "Saudade" at the 33 Seaport Hotel. Nicoletta Todesco takes you on a journey through time with her captivating set, blending early music with folk traditions and original compositions, creating an intimate dialogue between voice and guitar. Following her, Octávio Deluchi delves into the depths of "Saudade," exploring this untranslatable sentiment with a repertoire of powerful South American compositions. Their performances promise an evening of longing, reflection, and profound musical storytelling, all within the warm ambiance of the 33 Seaport Hotel. Join us for a night where every note tells a story, every melody paints a picture of distant lands and cherished memories.
The program that I will perform will be the following:
Marco Pereira (Brasil, b. 1950) - Bate-Coxa
Francisca “Chiquinha” Gonzaga (Brasil, 1847-1935) - Lua Branca (Arr. O. Deluchi)
Agustín “Mangoré” Barrios (Paraguay, 1885-1944) - Chôro da Saudade, Danza Paraguaya
Dilermando Reis (Brasil, 1916-1977) - Eterna Saudade, Conversa de Baiana, Xodó da Baiana (Arr. O. Deluchi)
Astor Piazzolla (Argentina, 1921-1992) - Verano Porteño (Arr. S. Assad)
APRIL 26 - Groupmuse - Flatbush
In the week after, on Friday, April 26th, I will have a GroupMuse concert. House concerts are quite common in New York City, and this will be one of these cases. On many occasions, the hosts open their places to a very refined and interested audience, creating a unique environment for the performance. April 26th will be one of these days, and in the heart of Brooklyn, the Brazilian feeling of Saudade will bloom.
Click here for tickets/reservation
The repertoire will be similar, with the additions of three pieces:
Francisca “Chiquinha” Gonzaga (Brasil, 1847-1935) - Lua Branca (Arr. O. Deluchi)
Vicente Paschoal (b. 1979) - Dedicatória nº 1
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) - Prelúdio nº 2
Recordings
The second topic of our conversation today is recordings. Despite the impression my first releases happened a long time ago, in fact, those are very recent projects. In 2023, I made available a single and an EP, and I would like to talk a bit about that.
A short (and fun) story of how that came to be: Everything started in 2022, while I was performing a solo concert at the historic Lang Hall at Hunter College (Manhattan, NYC), and some important colleagues attended. After the concert, they came to me and asked “Octávio, where can I listen to you after here? How can I keep following your work?”. I do not remember exactly what I said, but the first thought that came to my mind was “Well, you would have to come to the next concert. Hm… This is not an acceptable answer for a concert… Octávio, you should have something released BY TOMORROW!!”.
Over the process of planning such releases, I realized that some people around me know what I do and what I work with, but many more people (with whom I don’t interact often) have no idea what I have been doing. Because of that, I selected some recordings that I have done in the previous years - especially during the pandemic - and released as a Single and as an EP, exclusively digital, over the streaming platforms. Both releases were planned as one idea and concept, and although they are separate products (single + ep), they carry the same collaborations and artists.
Single - Prelúdio nº 4 by João Luiz Rezende Lopes
My first release ever was a single, performing a piece by the composer João Luiz Rezende Lopes (b. 1979). Born in São Paulo and currently based in Brooklyn, João is one of the main composers of the new generation of composer-guitarists, and I had the pleasure of collaborating with him in the premiering of this piece. Yes, I premiered this prelude on stage, and then later released it as a Single on Spotify.
The recording was done in October of 2020 in Radford and is a live recording. You can find the video of this performance on YouTube, on my channel.
EP - Octávio Deluchi - Octávio Deluchi (2023)
While the Prelúdio nº 4 was released in July of 2023, during my Brasil tour, my EP was released in October, just a few months later. All of these recordings were also selected from my 2020 sessions, when I was living in Radford, VA. The repertoire showcases different sides of the guitar that I have worked on, and at the time I recorded it, I felt represented by such pieces. I like to imagine recordings as photographs of certain moments or contexts, and I believe this EP represents my first years of guitar passion.
In a short release, you can listen to the virtuosity of the Italian classical repertoire with Luigi Legnani, a great landmark of the 20th-century repertoire with Villa-Lobos Prelude nº 2, a collaboration with a young composer such as Vicente Paschoal, and a remarkable arrangement by Assad for solo guitar of Piazzolla’s Verano Porteño, addressing the Latin-American repertoire.
When I listen to this EP, I feel in a time capsule, going back to my early years of playing the guitar, when I was around 16, or 17, and mesmerized by my first influences, such as my teacher at the time (Guilherme Vincens).
Playlist:
Luigi Legnani (1790-1877) - Caprice nº 7
Vicente Paschoal (b. 1979) - Prelude nº 1
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) - Prelude nº 2
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) - Verano Porteño (Arr. Assad)
I would like to mention a bit of the process, especially the visual arts. Both covers were completed by Lucas Carvalho, a young and brilliant artist from Minas Gerais. He also was in charge of the lettering and the original fonts. Originally from Prados, Lucas currently lives in Belo Horizonte, and I invited him to join me on this endeavor because I thoroughly enjoyed his pieces, although having a young age, comes from a family of artists and has worked with many different media. The pictures were taken in New York City by Giovana Fleck, a Brazilian journalist currently based in the Netherlands.
Photo: Giovanna Fleck
Cover: Lucas Carvalho
Master: Waldir Jr.
Guitar: Samuel Carvalho 2017
Recorded in Radford, VA, 2020.
Wrap up and New releases
Different reasons made me want to show today not only my upcoming concerts but also my previous releases. I am still catching up in bringing to a broader audience every side of me as an artist, and this is one more bit of it. It is also a good way for us to start this Newsletter.
Looking ahead now, sharing exclusively with you here, in the upcoming weeks I have three singles coming up, and they are related to my current program and curatorial choices. Yes, I am very excited about that, and you will be able to listen to those new recordings soon.
To not overstay my welcome in your mailbox, I will stop here, but thank you so much if you made it until the end, and I look forward to the next issue, in May. Next month, I will share with you my concerts and events in the upcoming weeks and more news about those releases.
If you liked it, send it to a friend, someone that you know will like the music or any other person you may think of while you read here.
Thank you so much and have a great April!
Octávio