The Marshall University Guitar Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Júlio Ribeiro Alves, will visit Brazil June 4-15 and perform three concerts in the capital city of Brasília. The first concert will be during the University of Brasília Guitar Festival, where they will have the opportunity to participate in a musical collaboration with the University of Brasília Guitar Orchestra. This performance will be followed by others at the Redemptoris Mater Seminar and the Federal Institute of Brasília.
The ensemble’s guitarists include Jonathan Thorne, Chase Mayo, Jason Dandelet, Jeremy Paitsel, Mason Anderson, James Stamm, Kyle Levisay, Thomas Walker and Kayla Wilson. They will share with the Brazilian audiences works by composers such as Giorgio Tortora of Italy, Olga Amelkino-Vera of Belarus, Fabrice Pierrat of French Guyana and Jacob do Bandolim of Brazil, as well as arrangements of West Virginia folk music.
In addition to performing, the members of the MU Guitar Ensemble will have the opportunity to experience a cultural immersion in the Brazilian capital. They will tour the city, visit the School of Choro Raphael Rabello, attend events by Brazilian artists, sample Brazilian food and enjoy an opportunity to interact with members of the community.
The goal of this trip, conceived by Alves with the support of the College of Arts and Media, is to provide a meaningful opportunity for Marshall students to expand their professional horizons, experience a different culture and share our culture with others, make new connections and practice their skills developed during their educational journey at Marshall with an audience abroad. This will be the third trip abroad for the MU Guitar Ensemble. The first, in 2011, was also to Brazil. The second, in 2014, was to Costa Rica.
For more information, contact Júlio Ribeiro Alves, professor of music, by e-mail at alves@marshall.edu.