GRAND SUCCESS FOR THE CAMERATA CANTABILE ON ITS TOUR TO IRELAND
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The Camerata Cantabile toured Ireland from 3 to 10 November with concerts in
Dublin, Waterford, Wexford and New Ross.
It also performed in Duiske Abbey (one of the oldest abbeys in Ireland) and
in Castalia Hall - a concert hall that belongs to the NGO Camphill Community
which works with disabled children.
The Mayor of La Adrada, Francisco de Pedraza Rivas, accompanied the Camerata
in its concert in Dublin which was organized by the Spanish Embassy.
The
Spanish Ambassador, Mayor of La Adrada, Mayor of New Ross, Conductor of
Camerata Cantabile, members of the Camerata and companions at the entrance
to the Ambassador's residence.
The Conductor of the Camerata, Vanessa Satur, informed us that the tour was
filled with musical satisfactions with excellent choral interpretation
which, undoubtedly, resulted in a great success for the Camerata and its
members, while, at the same time, made a sincere mention to the audience and
Irish authorities for all the courtesies extended during the tour.
"We performed in some excellent venues with a highly appreciative and
attentive audience. One has to admit that the Irish audience is a well
versed audience - they have a very strong musical culture - and the
organizers informed us that it is not usual practice for the audience to
give a standing ovation. That is why we were delighted to receive standing
ovations in 4 of our 6 concerts. The concert programme - Spanish music with
guitar and castanet accompaniment in the first half, and, music from Central
and Southern America with accompaniment by guitar, charango, and percussion
(bongos, claves, maracas, guiro and tambourine) - was highly entertaining
and unique. It was perhaps the first time that many in the audience were
listening to this kind of repertoire. They also appreciated the striking
wardrobe"
A report on the eight days of the Camerata Cantabile's musical tour to
Ireland
By Vanessa Satur
We reached New Ross, town in which we would reside for the 8 days of the
Irish tour, on Friday, 2 November with the first unforeseen event. One of
the musical instruments, the bongo, did not arrive with the luggage. While
the airline company located the instrument, we had to perform our first
concert without it..
DAY ONE
Luckily, the first concert was in Castalia Hall in the town of Ballytobin
and, since it is a type of camp for music therapy, the organizers were able
to lend us a bongo for the concert. Castalia Hall belongs to an
international NGO called Camphill Community.
This NGO works with disabled children using all the forms of art (painting, sculpture and music) for their education. They are also ecological communities producing their own
food and even their own heating with biogas. The NGO at Ballytobin is
dedicated to music therapy and has an octagonal-shaped auditorium, made
entirely out of wood, and which has an impressive acoustics. Also, due to
the biogas installations, the concert hall has a constant temperature and
humidity which has led many Irish orchestras to store their musical
instruments there so as to better preserve them. Many charity concerts by
both national and international groups are held in this auditorium.
DAY TWO Duiske Abbey
The second concert was on Sunday, 4 November where the Camerata performed in
Duiske Abbey. This is the oldest Cistercian abbey in Ireland and was built
in the eleventh century. We first sang during the Mass with a repertoire of
hymns by Spanish composers such as Tomas Luis de Victoria and Cristobal de
Morales. After the Mass, we performed the concert. The Abbey was
completely full with approximately 230 people.
During the Mass
Second Concert - Duiske Abbey, 4 November
Some of our audience
Singing the Mass
Concert at the Abbey
A view of the town of the Abbey - Graiguenamanagh.
The Abbey is at the
background to the left.
DAY THREE
The third day, Monday, 5 November, was our only free day. We went on a
sightseeing tour of Kilkenny and here is a group photo (choir and
companions) in front of Kilkenny Castle.
I forgot to mention that the airline company did locate our bongo on
Saturday itself (3 November) but since we were a 3-hours drive from Dublin,
they were not able to deliver it to us until Tuesday, 6 November.
The coach company which we hired for all our transportation had to make a
trip to Dublin on the morning of Sunday (4 November) to leave some tourists
so they were kind enough to collect the bongo for us and deliver it to
Duiske Abbey - thus we were able to perform with our bongo in all the
remaining concerts. It was very funny when we reached the Abbey at 10 in
the morning and there was a huge blue bag at the steps of the altar. Sister
Cora (conductor of the Abbey's choir) tells us, "This is for you. They
delivered it this morning." You should have seen her face when we opened
the bag and pulled out a big bongo!!
DAY FOUR St. Mary and St. Michael
Churh of New Ross
Tuesday, 6 November (fourth day of our tour) was one of the most important
days. We were staying in New Ross, a Norman town which was celebrating its
800th anniversary this year. A number of cultural celebrations had been
scheduled to conmemorate this event and the launch of the celebrations had
been inauguraged by the Irish President.
We were the main international performance for the month of November. The
New Ross Town Hall extended many courtesies to us. Firstly, in our honour,
it raised the Spanish flag next to the Irish flag at the Town Hall,
They offered us a civic reception at the Town Hall in which there were
welcome speeches on behalf of the Mayor, Ms. Ingrid O' Brien and her fellow
councillors and a speech of thanks on my part. There was also an exchange
of gifts. Following the Civic Reception, the Camerata performed its concert
in the St. Mary and St. Michael parish church of New Ross. First, the New
Ross 800 Choir (with about 50 members) sang a song on the construction of
the town's walls. Our performance followed with a highly appreciative
audience.
I would like to take advantage of this moment to talk about our companions.
They were untiring in their support and offered all kinds of assistance.
Marta Martinez (daughter of Marta Martin, soprano in the Camerata) is a
professional dancer. She kindly agreed to dance during one of the songs in
the second half (South American music) which gave a beautiful touch to the
concert.
Emiliana Rueda (hair dresser by profession and wife of Jaime Esquerdo,
President of the Camerata Cantabile Association), styled my hair for each
concert, sometimes in very difficult conditions such as doing my hair up in
the bus or in one of the rooms of the National Gallery in Dublin.
Justo Lopez was kind enough to videotape all the concert.
Antonio Martinez was designated as the official photographer of the tour.
All the remaining companions had to bear with us during all the rehearsals
and concerts, being the first to applaud and encourage the audience with
their shouts of "Bravo" (complete with English accent due to their own
rehearsals!) and "Arish" ("Encore" in Gaelic).
The choir with the Mayor of New Ross and her councillors
at the Civic Reception hosted by the Town Hall
The Mayor with the gift presented to her by the Camerata
The Spanish and Irish flags raised at the New Ross Town Halls
The choir in front of the New Ross Town Hall and the Spanish flag
The New Ross concert
The New Ross concert
The New Ross concert
Catalina Alba (Contralto) and Jaime Esquerdo (Bass) dancing
the "jota" in
one of the encores at the end of the concert
DAY FIVE Wexford. City´s hospital and church of St. Iberius
On the morning of Wednesday, 7 November, the choir went on a sightseeing
tour to Waterford (the fourth largest city in Ireland) where the Town Hall
requested us to give a short concert at the city's hospital. In the
evening, we performed in the church of St. Iberius in the town of Wexford.
Vanessa with a poster announcing the Wexford concert
Wexford has a great musical tradition and organizes an annual international
opera festival. St. Iberius is oe of the its main concert halls with
concerts booked months in advance. Our concert was sponsored by the Arts
and Culture Department of the Town Hall.
During this concert, we had another unfortunate mishap. One of the members
of the choir took ill and had to be rushed to the emergency services of
Wexford Hospital. Two of the companions as well as John Enright (the tour
organizer) accompanied him as the choir had to continue with the
performance. They returned to New Ross past midnight with the information
that our colleague had to go to Waterford the following day to be treated
(this was the same hospital in which we had given a brief charity concert
that same morning).
Thank God, our colleague Enrique recovered well
and the treatment and medical attention he received on part of the doctors and nurses of Waterford Hospital was exceptional.
Charity concert at Waterford Hospital. Who would have guessed that we would
have to return there the next day with one of our members as a patient!
Getting ready for rehearsal
An instant during the performance
Another moment during the concert.
One can see the singers playing the
bongo, maracas and guiro.
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