What is believed to be the first ever brass band in Peru has given its debut performance in the country's capital, Lima.
It was the culmination of a dream held by Besson artist, Patricio Cosentino, who, with the support of 'Tempo' — a leading School of Music, held a workshop initiative last month as part of a ground-breaking four day course.
Patricio is an international tuba soloist and the MD of the Brass Band BlechKLANG in Germany, since 2015, and first brought the project to the attention of 4BR at the recent European Brass Band Championships in Montreux.
There he said that he was still putting the final elements in place, working hard to attract brass players to the course.
Huge success
Now though he has revealed that the project has been a huge success, with the School's Director, Rafael Reyes Acevedo telling 4BR: "No one was expecting a result like this in such a short time.
The preparation work undertaken by Patricio has been exceptional and the development of the participants in the four days was simply astonishing."
He added: "This is a musical medium that has so much potential for brass and percussion players. We are proud and happy to have the first brass band in Peru and we will keep working to develop it and perhaps others with his inspirational lead."
Explaining
Over the four days Patricio led the participants in different aspects of brass band ensemble playing, intonation, articulation, effects and quality of sound.
"Part of what I had to do was to explain just what brass bands were all about — and what musical opportunities they have to offer players,"he said. "Some people knew more than others, but the appetite to understand and explore was incredible."
Part of the exploratory process was to listen each night to a number of brass band CD recordings and videos — including those from Brass in Concert and even watch the film 'Brassed Off!"
Serious and fun
"We balanced the serious and the fun,"Patricio added.
"I wanted to give everyone an idea of not just what brass bands can do, but how we are sometimes portrayed. It was the same with the music we played — from 'Prismatic Light' and 'The Floral Dance' to looking at a couple of test-pieces. The players wanted to experience it all!"
One player who was an instant fan was Gustavo Ramirez Davalos, who became the band's first principal cornet. He told 4BR: "It is the first time in my life that I sit in this position.
It is a big challenge that I like to take, but also I can feel the pressure in leading the players. It is very exciting."
We are proud and happy to have the first brass band in Peru and we will keep working to develop it and perhaps others with his inspirational leadSchool Director, Rafael Reyes Acevedo
Concert
The four day course was rounded off with a short concert which attracted many interested people from the music school as well as members of the public intrigued to hear a traditional British style brass band perform.
Such was the success (which included two encores) that the Music School invited Patricio to become its International MD of the newly named Brass Band Tempo.
Honoured
"I feel very honoured to bring brass bands to new frontiers,"he said. "Since I started conducting Brass Band BlachKLAND in 2015, I have become a huge fan of brass bands and have always wanted to make a mark in bringing its joys to other people.
I'm so happy that this connection is working and now we must try to bring brass bands to the rest of South America!"
