The 2016 Humanitas visiting Professors in Music were brothers Sergio and Odair Assad. The two visited Oxford for a workshop of Sergio's concerto for two guitars with OUO and guitarists Daniel Bovey and Julian Vickers, conducted by Natalia Luis-Bassa. Cellist Rebecca McNaught wrote about the event:
OUO was invited to participate in a workshop exploring the suite Back to our Roots by Sergio Assad, who along with his brother Odair are the 2016 Humanitas visiting Professors of Music. Members of OUO were joined by the Vickers Bovey Guitar Duo and the inspiring Venezuelan conductor Natalia Luis-Bassa.
As this was a concerto for two guitars, the forces required were not huge and as a result a chamber group was formed of OUO members past and present: single flute and clarinet and then a small string group and percussion. However, this meant that each member was absolutely crucial and we were all able to suggest our input. We rehearsed as a group the day before and the morning of the open rehearsal but a majority of the polishing happened in front of the audience. For me, I had been conducted by Natalia once before when she came to conduct OUO in Hilary 2015 and it was lovely to work with her on a smaller scale project. Her enthusiasm for the music and to perfect each element of each movement was certainly inspirational. We were also joined by the Vickers Bovey Guitar Duo. Julian and Dan met initially at Birmingham Conservatoire and then went on to study a joint Masters at the Royal Academy of Music so it was a privilege for us to be working with such fantastic musicians. Their playing was extraordinary: not only did their playing suit the style of the music but they also fitted in with OUO chamber group brilliantly.
The concerto is in three movements, Leaving, Nostalgy and Hope. It was also nice to learn more about the background of the piece from the guitarists, especially since one of the guitar parts was written for a different kind of guitar, a Sazouki, a mix of a Bouzouki and a Saz. However, because of the rarity of this instrument, the open rehearsal was performed on two standard guitars. We spent some time getting into the rhythmic elements of the music, especially due to the Brazilian influences: not a style that most of the players were used to. We had to spend a lot of time on the very opening of the final movement, Hope, due to the changes in time signature: eight unbelievably difficult bars! All three movements provided some fantastic opportunities for some individual solos from violinist Elizabeth Nurse, flautist Jaymee Coonjobeeharry and clarinettist, Dan Mort along with a very tricky bongo part in the first movement: our poster designer, Jason Sengel, rose to the challenge fantastically!
After rehearsing in front of the audience we took a break to eat some well-earned cake, before performing the entire piece end-to-end. Overall the experience was a brilliant opportunity for a small group to work intensively on a very different style of concerto. It was not something any of us had done before so definitely a challenge but the finish result was really something to be proud of.
