Café des Artistes welcomes back virtuoso Mexican guitarist Morgan Szymanski this month with his groundbreaking new show ‘Sketches of Mexico‘.  This unique  project curated by Szymanski and Sarabande Records is a collaboration with visual artists from Mexico, Portugal the UK and China. Through the marriage of both sonic and visual mediums, we are transported on a magical, multi sensory journey through Mexico’s sounds, colours, dances and styles.

The project focuses on the 20 Sketches of Mexico by guitarist and composer Julio César Oliva (1947-).  One of Mexico’s most famous classical guitarists, Oliva has composed over 300 works, bought a full program of Bach’s music to Mexico and is also an arranger, advocate and conservationist of traditional Mexican music. Oliva’s works are complemented by six songs by Manuel María Ponce (1882-1949), Mexico’s foremost composer and father of Mexican nationalism. Throughout his life he collected melodies and themes which are present in his compositions. The selection of popular pieces and songs reflect Ponce’s unending devotion to the guitar and his close relationship with Andres Segovia.

“I always wanted to record a CD of Mexican music. I found, completely by accident, the sheet music for the sketches years back in a music shop in Amsterdam as I was looking for Bach’s lute suites. They remained in a box for ages until I found them again one day and started playing them.”

Listen: 

Originally, Oliva’s Sketches of Mexico were never intended as concert works, but rather as a stylistic and didactic collection for young guitarists to become acquainted with traditional Mexican rhythms and musical forms. The characteristic simplicity of the work romantically conjures up vivid impressions, images, ambiences, sounds and colours of Mexico’s distinct and varied geography which is portrayed in a mixture of pre-hispanic, popular and modern sound worlds, taking the listener on a musical voyage through famous locations such as Acapulco, Oaxaca, Yucatán, Chiapas, Veracruz. Imagery is present in the music in homage to the Virgin of Guadalupe, the two famous volcanoes – Popocatépetl and Ixtaccíhuatl – the pyramids of Teotihuacan and the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, now embraced by the sprawling capital, Mexico City.

“They are not intended as concert works, but that simplicity is still appealing, relaxing and conjures up all sort of images.” Surprisingly, the works had never been recorded. “I had always loved Olivas work, but his music is only known in Mexico so I thought it was a good opportunity to promote him. I decided to record them as no one else had done so and it would be the world premiere recording.”

The eureka moment which gave birth to the idea of uniting art and music came to Morgan whilst jogging in the Peak District.  Why not commission artists to paint images inspired by these beautifully evocative pieces of music? “I really liked the idea of doing exhibitions-concerts”.

“I love painting and had the idea of doing some sketches for the CD cover but they were awful.”  So Morgan approached artist and friend Alvaro Verduzco along with Andres Almeida and Fernanda Gavito to take part in this unique collaboration.  They were asked to provide their own interpretation inspired by the music in the form of sketches, paintings and designs which accompany the music and everyone was interested. “My agent suggested Sally McKay. I had some sketches by Jane Williams so invited her too and she invited Catherine Hope Jones. By then we had a great group of artists so I decided to invite my friends Ben Crawford (UK),  Elisa Lima (Portugal), Peter Crann (Ireland) and Martin Barnes in Beijing.

“And that’s how we ended up with twenty artists, one for each sketch but some produced more than one. Oliva’s work really gets the imagination going and I suppose that is what the artists found appealing.”

The show is further enhanced by artist Joseph Fairweather-Hole who cleverly manages the projections of the images, animating them and bringing them to life with the music.

The following day, Morgan will be conducting workshops for children based on this same principle.  Children are invited to bring musical instruments and arts materials and together with Oliva’s Sketches and the projections of the especially commissioned art works,  Morgan will guide them on an immersive, educational creative and sensory journey through Mexico’s sights, sounds, colours and cultures.

For more information about this project and the artists involved, visit Sarabande Records. To buy the album click here.

Tickets are priced at £10 (+ a small booking fee) and are available online from wegottickets and also from the Union Music Store Lewes.  Tickets on the door will be priced at £12

Sketches of Mexico Concert Saturday 25th May 2013

Doors open 7pm

Sketches of Mexico Workshops Sunday 26th may 2013

Ages 5-10 12pm-1pm

Ages 11-16 2pm-3pm

Tickets are also priced at £10 (+ a small booking fee) and are available online from wegottickets and also from the Union Music Store Lewes.  Tickets on the door will be priced at £12

Please contact us 07545 075 198 if you have any queries or email us:cafedesartisteslewes@gmail.com

One of the treasures of the Lewes Priory, currently housed in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge is the Cluniac breviary missal, a plainsong manuscript from the Middle Ages. Contained within its lavishly illuminated pages is the music for a Mass of St. Pancras and two Vespers services. There will be a rare opportunity to hear a performance of these by Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge. The Schola and participating singers will process, in robes, to sing vespers in the Priory ruins at 6pm. Weather permitting, of course – if it rains the event will take place in Southover Church. Enthusiastic singers who’d like to take part in the evening performance are very welcome, no experience necessary (9am-2pm and 3.45-5.30pm at St Pancras Church, lunch included, £15). The day will also involve a lecture on Cluniac Liturgy (2.30-3.30pm, Southover Church, £5), a ‘monks supper’ of hearty locally-sourced food (7-8pm, Southover Church, £10) and evening entertainment (8.30-10pm, Southover Church, £8). Whole day ticket is £35, but the concert itself is free.

Sat 11, Music performance in Priory Park,  6pm, free with retiring collection, lewespriory.org.uk, 483462

Schola Gregoriana will still be here on the Sunday; they’re joining forces with St Pancras Schola to sing the Mass of St Pancras in Latin. Schola Gregoriana are also running workshops over the weekend. All you local vocal enthusiasts should ring Grey Macartney on 020 884 05832 for more info.
Sun 12, St Pancras Church, 12.30pm, free

Beginning Saturday 4, a series of classical music recitals will be given by artists from the Royal Academy of Music, with all profits going to Action on Hearing Loss and St John Sub Castro. The series will include performances by the Danzi Wind Quintet (Sat 4), The Oriole String Quartet (Sat 18) and violinist Juliette Gregg (Sat 25). Royal Academy postgraduate student Jonathan Farey, both a performer and event co-ordinator says, “The idea for the concert series came after my hard-of-hearing Grandmother died last October. I decided to organise the concerts and run the London Marathon for Action on Hearing Loss.”
All performances 4pm, St. John Sub Castro Church, £8/£5, tickets from 475935

More dates:
Fri 10, Lewes Concert Orchestra with international mezzo-soprano Sophie Gopsill. Britten, Suppé and Brahms and more. Town Hall, 7.30pm, £10/£5, lewesco.org.uk

Sun 12, Corelli Ensemble playing three of Bach’s masterpieces. Brighton Fringe event. St Michaels and All Angels’ Church, Victoria Road, Brighton, 4pm, £12/£10, 917272

Paul Austin Kelly

This article by Paul Austin Kelly was originally published in the May 2013 issue of Viva Lewes.

Nothing gets sluggish winter blood moving quite like Russian music. Well, that’s my humble opinion, Comrade, for what it’s worth. And if, like me, you need a boost at this time of the year, the Corelli Ensemble’s February programme should be just the ticket.

Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite is the opener, dating from the late 1940s, though the full ballet was premiered in 1920. Its eight movements are very traditional in sound and structure. There is nothing to challenge, only charm. Then from Shostakovich, The Gadfly Suite, composed for the 1955 Soviet film, The Gadfly.  Again, very traditional in style but I find it spellbinding. Most of the sections are dances, but some in the audience may recognise the lovely “Romance” movement as the theme for the BBC/PBS Mini-Series, Reilly, Ace of Spies, first shown in 1983.

The afternoon fare will end with Tchaikovsky’s beautiful Serenade for Strings. What’s not to love?
4pm – Sun 10, St Pancras Church, Irelands Lane, Lewes
£10 reserved corelliensemble@hotmail.com, £12 on door, children free

The Doric String Quartet was hailed by Gramophone as ‘one of the finest young string quartets’, whose members are ‘musicians with fascinating things to say’, and that their Haydn playing ‘sparkles with wit’. You can judge for yourself, as their opening salvo is Haydn’s String Quartet No. 3. They’ll follow with Bartok’s Quartet No. 5, composed in arch form, meaning that some melodies are repeated upside-down. But don’t think too much about that. Just enjoy the bird impressions and eerie atmosphere. The evening finishes with the Death and the Maiden quartet, Schubert’s almost unremittingly grim masterpiece. Snuggle under it. It’s winter.
7:45pm – Fri 22, Sussex Downs College, 1 Mountfield Road, Lewes

This article by Paul Austin Kelly was originally printed in a slightly different form in the February 2013 issue of Viva Lewes magazine.

January, a notoriously dull month for concertgoers, will be greatly uplifted this year by the Cavaleri Quartet’s appearance at Sussex Downs.

Established in 2008, the Cavaleri has already become one of Europe’s finest string quartets. After making their Wigmore Hall debut in 2010 they went on to win the prestigious Royal Over-Seas League Competition in 2011, and took first prize in the 2012 Hamburg International Chamber Music Competition.

Not a group to shy away from risk taking, they regularly tackle contemporary works. Of particular interest in their upcoming Nicholas Yonge concert in Lewes is the inclusion of a work by internationally famed composer Jonathan Harvey, who lived in Lewes until his death in early December 2012.

A prominent disciple of Karlheinz Stockhausen in the 1960s, Harvey’s more mature works have a distinctive and personal voice, often involving themes drawn from Eastern philosophy and spirituality.
His String Quartet No. 3, which the Cavaleri will perform, dates from 1995. Unlike his fourth quartet, which features live electronics alongside acoustic instruments, the third is strictly acoustic. However, because of the wonderfully inventive playing techniques Harvey employs, you might swear you were actually hearing electronic sounds. It is a remarkably dramatic piece with ghostly tremolos and moments of creepy silence.

In case this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, fear not: Janacek and Beethoven are also on the bill. Don’t miss this one.

Fri 25, 7:45pm Sussex Downs College, 1 Mountfield Road, Lewes – Tickets £14 at the door (8-25 year-olds free, sponsored by the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust)

This article by Paul Austin Kelly was first published in the print version of Viva Lewes magazine, January 2013 issue.

Please note that the Paddock Singers concert on 16 December will be at 7pm,  not 7:30 as previously posted.

Sun 16 at 7:00pm (!), St Michael’s Church, Lewes. Tickets are £8 and £5 for concessions. Under 14s free. Available on the door or email fiona.monson@armida.co.uk to reserve.

Paddock Singers with music director Ruth Kerr

I’m showcasing Lewes’ own Paddock Singers this month. When it comes to choral societies and singing ensembles in general, Lewes contains an embarrassment of riches. Anyone with a desire to sing, from complete beginners to old pros au fait with the great English choral tradition will certainly be able to find a suitable match with one of the many groups in our town.

The Paddock Singers, all women, are a relatively new addition to this treasure trove. Beginning life in 2007 as the choir brought together for the premiere of Orlando Gough’s opera The Finnish Prisoner, the group reportedly so enjoyed the experience of singing together that they asked conductor John Hancorn to keep the group together. Now, after five years, he’s handed over the reins permanently to Ruth Kerr.

Part of what is so important about this chorus is its continued commitment to new music, especially that of our many local composers. Among the best-known of the new works they have performed are Helen Glavin’s The Phoenix Cantata and the premiere of Orlando Gough’s Dead Head at the Brighton Early Music Festival.

Ruth Kerr, who studied music at Cambridge and singing at the Guildhall has a busy vocal career, besides being the Paddock Singers’ MD. She began her career as a chorister with many of the UK’s leading professional choirs before going on to sing leading operatic and concert roles.

She says of her group: “Clearly new music has been a part of the Paddock’s repertoire since the very beginning, and although they have since performed a huge variety of music ranging from Fauré’s Requiem to Broadway hits, I am hoping that we can continue to champion the works of local composers.”

One can only heartily agree. Another reason to herald the Paddock Singers?  Their concerts are light-hearted, lively and a great deal of fun.

For our Round-Up I’ll start with the New Sussex Singers in a concert called Sing Nöel! Director Lee Reynolds and Co. will offer a selection of familiar favourites and new delights, such as Albrechts’ “Reindeer on the Roof,” sung by guest Choir of Southover Primary School.
Sun 9 at 3pm, Southover Church, Lewes. Tickets £10, Under 12s free. Book on 0792 983 3720.

The Pestalozzi Christmas Concert which will feature Christmas music by the Pestalozzi Chamber Choir directed by Roger Durston, plus solo items by Glyndebourne soloists Ann Mason and Geoff Moses, with Nick Milner-Gulland on the organ, and Pestalozzi students.
Wed 12 at 7:30pm, St Michael’s Church, Lewes. Tickets £8 at the door, £7 in advance, Tel. 01273 475172.

Next is the Lewes Chamber Music Festival’s fundraising Christmas concert.  The programme is Mendelssohn’s String Quintet in B Flat, Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances arranged for String Trio and Warlock’s Bethlehem Down for Baritone and String Quartet.
Fri 14 at 6:30pm, St John Sub Castro, Lewes. Tickets: £14 to include refreshments, under 16s free. Tel: 01273 479865 | email: leweschambermusicfestival@gmail.com

The Paddock Singers Christmas concert will include performances of O Holy Night, Jingle Bell Rock, In the Bleak Midwinter, a jazz medley of familiar carols, plus audience participation in carol singing.
Sun 16 at 7:o0pm, St Michael’s Church, Lewes. Tickets are £8 and £5 for concessions. Under 14s free. Available on the door or email fiona.monson@armida.co.uk to reserve.