MELODIA! SOUTH AMERICAN MUSIC FESTIVAL
Music and Outreach in Brazil and Argentina
Melodia! offers a unique and fabulous music festival experience set in the beautiful environments of Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. Outstanding artistic experiences are combined with once-in-a-lifetime cultural and outreach opportunities.
Melodia! history includes choirs from Argentina, Brazil. Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, USA, and Venezuela.
Upcoming Melodia! Festivals:
Melodia! 2009
Maria Guinand, Guest Conductor
| July 22-August 3, 2009
2009 Participants
Atlanta Young singers of Callanwolde (USA)
The Duke of Cornwall Singers (South Africa)
Cidade de Deus Choir (Brazil)
Coro Kennedy (Argentina)
Melodia! 2011
Francisco J. Núñez, Guest Conductor
| July 20-August 1, 2011
Accepting applications from youth and children's choirs (treble and mixed voices), as well as youth orchestras.
Apply NOW!
Contact Alessandra D'Ovidio at .
Melodia! activities include:
Joint rehearsals and performances under the direction of distinguished conductor Maria Guinand at major concert halls in Argentina.
Individual ensemble concerts in venues such as Candelaria Church in Rio and the Winter Music Festival in the royal city of Petropolis.
Workshop with a Latin American composer/conductor.
A day of cultural outreach and exchange spent singing, dancing and drumming with Brazilian samba school students and members of the Cidade de Deus Children's Choir from the infamous shantytown "City of God."
Sightseeing at Sugar Loaf and Corcovado with free time at Copacabana Beach in Brazil; in Argentina, excursions to the colorful neighborhoods of La Boca and San Telmo, a tango evening at the Viejo Almacén, as well as to a working estancia (Argentinean ranch.)
Act now to participate in Melodia! 2009! Contact Alessandra D'Ovidio at
for more information.
Melodia! 2008 Highlights
2008 was a great year for Melodia! Six wonderful choirs: The New Zealand Secondary Students Choir (New Zealand) , Children's Chorus of Sussex County (USA), The Oakville Children's Choir (Canada), Cidade de Deus Children's Choir (Brazil), Niños Cantores de Lara (Venezuela), Coro Municipal de Niños de Pergamino (Argentina), and Coro Infantil Universidade Federal do Rio (Brazil) traveled and performed in against the fabulous backdrop of Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. The choirs rehearsed and performed under the direction of the distinguished choral conductor Doreen Rao in Argentina. The choirs joined forces with the exceptional Argentinean orchestra Camerata Exaudi at the magnificent Catedral de La Plata in La Plata and in Buenos Aires at the Colegio de la Salle, a well recognized educational institution to commemorate their 105 anniversary of their Alumni foundation. Directed by Doreen Rao, the combined choirs with orchestra performed works by Bach, Britten, Ramirez, Nuñez, Piazzolla, the South American premiere of the Bernstein Mass and the World premiere of "El Angel" by American composer, Daniel Brewbaker, a tango piece commissioned especially for Melodia! 2008 by Choral Music Experience Institute and Classical Movements.
Without doubts, one of the most significant moments in Brazil was the cultural outreach and exchange at the Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel Samba School, in which the The New Zealand Secondary Students Choir, and the Children's Chorus of Sussex County joined Brazilian students from Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel Samba School, as well as the Coro Infantil Universidade Federal do Rio (Brazil). Through vibrant singing, dancing, and drumming, young people from different continents proudly shared their cultures thorough music. Another high point of the festival was the visit to the Escola de Musica da Rocinha, festival choirs were welcomed and hosted by Director Gilberto Figueiredo, and attended Brazilian instrument demonstrations by young Escola students and festival choirs taught Maori and American pieces from their own repertoires to the Escola children choir.
Audiences highly appreciated and applaudedthe Individual choir's concerts, in which festival choirs conducted by their own music director, had the unique opportunity to perform at the stunning Candelaria Church in Rio de Janeiro, at the gorgeous Crystal Palace in the royal city of Petropolis, as part of the Winter Festival joint by the Cidade de Deus Children's Choir from the infamous shantytown "City of God". In Buenos Aires The New Zealand Secondary Students Choir, Children's Chorus of Sussex County, and The Oakville Children's Choir offered a special concert dedicating their own repertoires to celebrate the Independence of Argentina at the historic Teatro Roma.
Itinerary subject to change
Venues are tentative and may be replaced with similar alternatives
