7 - Solo Guitar, Quartet, Events, Travel, and More. Fall and Many Events to come!
7 - Solo Guitar, Quartet, Events, Travel, and More. Fall and Many Events to come!
Take your calendar and let's check which dates you can join me for the next events! There are many options for everyone's taste!
Hello everyone! I would like to share some updates on what is happening in Long Island and New York, and reconnect since we last spoke. In the previous issue of the newsletter (#6), I mentioned the recent single releases, now available on streaming platforms, featuring music by Barrios, Dilermando Reis, and Vicente Paschoal, as well as the successful concerts, including the scheduled events in Brazil for July 2024. If you haven’t checked them out yet, make sure to do so!
July - August - September
In July, I had a wonderful time in Brazil, and I focused solely on the Festival de Música de Prados (Prados Music Festival). As I’ve mentioned before, this event holds great significance for me due to its impact on the community, the high level of engagement, and my personal connection with it. My main activity for 2024 was supposed to be the premiere of Roberto Luvini’s Guitar Concierto Tanguero No. 5 during the festival's final concert. However, due to external circumstances beyond my control, the performance of this piece was canceled. Despite that, I was still able to collaborate and perform extensively. In the end, I had solo performances, played as a member of the baroque orchestra, and shared the stage with a string quartet, featuring arrangements I created for the ensemble. It was truly a pleasure, and returning home for such a special occasion is always a memorable experience.
Lastly, regarding Prados, I even played some electric guitar with my former rock band, but that’s a story for another time… Now, let’s move forward and focus on the U.S.!
In August, I spent two weeks in Stamford, Connecticut, with InTempo, an amazing institution that offers music and art activities year-round and also hosts a Summer Camp. I was thrilled to be part of this year’s program. The 2024 theme focused on Ecuadorian, Colombian, and Peruvian music. During my time there, I not only performed a lot of this music but also learned how to successfully engage with and contribute to a diverse community through music, embracing its social and cultural richness.
Stamford is a welcoming and nice city, and I truly enjoyed working with the students as part of a guitar ensemble. I served as a guitar instructor alongside Vitor Sampaio, and we worked on our own arrangements featuring composers like Julio Jaramillo and Chabuca Granda. It was a rewarding experience!
More recently, in September and October, my regular teaching appointments resumed. Alongside my Doctoral studies and work on campus at Stony Brook University, I’ve started teaching in different schools in New York City. Some are familiar from previous years, but I’d like to highlight one particularly rich and interesting experience at an international school. We are developing a guitar ensemble there, with about 20 students per class, all around 17 years old. This project has been fascinating and reinforces the significance of guitar instruction and the creation of ensembles as an established practice in different settings.
Now that we’ve covered the key topics since the last issue, let’s move on to the latest news and upcoming concerts!
Releases and Next Appointments
Guitar Quartet - Alfaia e Maré
Our first video has just been released! We had the pleasure of working with a stellar team, including award-winning cinematographers and an outstanding sound engineer. The quartet not only has a new member, Nicolas Silva, but also features the introduction of a 7-string guitar, which I’m playing. Alfaia e Maré is a maracatu with a captivating groove, and it has all the qualities to become a standout piece in the guitar quartet repertoire.
The quartet will be performing soon in Manhattan — more details to follow later in the newsletter. Stay tuned for our upcoming videos, and in the meantime, turn up the volume and enjoy the music!
Next Concerts
October
October 18 (Friday) - SERTÃO presents: BRAZIL - GUITAR - NYC
SERTÃO is hosting its 3rd event in New York City, and I will be participating as the director and host. We’ll be exploring and discussing the remarkable rise of the Brazilian Classical Guitar scene in New York City and its surrounding areas. An unprecedented number of classical guitarists from Brazil have chosen to make this region their home, and during the event, we’ll dive into their stories and discover why!
This event is already sold out (the second in a row!), but stay tuned for future ones!
October 19 (Saturday) - Guitar Quartet at NYCCGS (New York City Classical Guitar Society)
October 20-28th - Europe appointments
I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be traveling to Europe for the first time! I’ll be visiting London and Rome, and although I had been coordinating some events and received invitations, there won’t be any guitar concerts this time around. This trip will be more of a “vacation” with a few professional meetings along the way, which will lead to exciting opportunities for the 2025 season!
November
November 21 (Thursday) - Ezra Guitar Faculty Concert
Solo classical guitar as part of Ezra' Guitar Concert Series.
November 23 (Saturday) - SERTÃO presents: CHORO! with Regional Samaúma
The final SERTÃO event of 2024 will feature Regional Samaúma, a choro group that has been setting new standards for Brazilian music and performance research in New York and across the United States.
November 26 (Tuesday) - Guitar Extravaganza
Concert to celebrate the work of David Leisner, Frederic Hand, and Marco Pereira.
December
December 7 (Saturday) - Solo Guitar Concert in Manhattan
To wrap up this issue of the newsletter, I’d like to share one of my recent photography captures, which I enjoy exploring when I'm not performing as a musician. I have always admired the art of photography, and recently, I returned to it with renewed inspiration. For me, capturing the environment we inhabit through our unique lenses (both figuratively and literally) is a powerful representation of reality. The photo was taken in Port Jefferson, New York.
Thank you for making it to the end of this issue! Looking forward to the next one. :)
See you soon, and stay tuned for upcoming events! I’ll be back in a few weeks with more news. Enjoy!
Octávio Deluchi