The Ilumina Festival is an annual

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

festival held in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The festival combines the objective of producing high-end

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

with a deep-rooted social mission. Professional soloists from multiple nationalities converge in a secluded venue in rural Brazil, where they commune and collaborate with a selected group of outstanding young local talents at the start of their professional careers. Through a series of rehearsals, workshops, and masterclasses, all musicians prepare, together, for a set of concerts, open to the public and free of charge, aimed at bringing chamber music to audiences that would have otherwise limited access to it. Both soloists and fellows feed off each other’s input, and the experience provides a sizeable professional boost for alumni’s careers. The festival operates on a non-profit basis and relies on donors, sponsors and supporters for financial viability.Festival Home Page
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History

Founded by American violist and artistic director Jennifer Stumm, the festival held its first edition in the city of São Bento do Sapucaí, in January 2015. Invited soloists for the first edition included Cristian Budu, Joseph Conyers, Giovanni Gnocchi, Esther Hoppe and Alexandra Soumm. Concerts were held in São Bento do Sapucaí and Campos do Jordão and included works by

Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: ''The Tempest (opera), The T ...

Anton Arensky Anton Stepanovich Arensky (; – ) was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music. Biography Arensky was born into an affluent, music-loving family in Novgorod, Russia. He was musically precocious and ha ...

Marcos Balter Marcos Balter (born April 1, 1974) is a Brazilian contemporary classical music composer and the Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University. Life and professional career Balter began his music studies at age five at t ...

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber correctly ''Biber von Bibern'' ( bapt. 12 August 1644, Stráž pod Ralskem – 3 May 1704, Salzburg) was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. Biber worked in Graz and Kroměříž before he illegally left ...

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

Osvaldo Golijov Osvaldo Noé Golijov (; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work. Biography Osvaldo Golijov was born in and raised in La Plata, Argentina, to a Jewish family ...

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

Bright Sheng Bright Sheng (; born December 6, 1955) is a Chinese-born American composer, pianist and conductor. Sheng has earned many honors for his music and compositions, including a MacArthur Fellowship in 2001; he also was a two-time Pulitzer Prize final ...

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

and

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has globally bec ...

. Alumni from the first edition went on to new professional jobs in classical music, and to be accepted into some of the world’s leading conservatories and music programs.

2016 Edition

The second edition of the festival was held in the

State of São Paulo State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

from January 02 to 10, 2016. All told, 7 international soloists and 20 fellows attended. 3 concerts were held: The first at the Serrinha farm, home of the festival in 2016, to an audience consisting of local community members and farm workers. The next one at the central church of Piracaia, the farm's neighboring town, again to a local audience lacking any regular classical music opportunities. The final performance was an all-day chamber music residency at MASP, consisting of the festival’s closing concert as well as pop-up concerts throughout the museum and public areas, including the Avenida Paulista, São Paulo’s main thoroughfare. All concerts were free of charge and fully attended, with tickets for the final concert being claimed within an hour of being made available. The festival received ample coverage through broadcast and printed media, as well as online, including by Cultura, São Paulo's Public Broadcasting Service,

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

and Estado de S. Paulo. Partnerships were formed with Cultura Artistica and the Minerva Kunststiftung, and fundraisers were held in São Paulo and London to keep operations financially viable. The festival was delivered within budget. Alumni from the second edition were also subsequently admitted into some of the world's leading conservatories, including the Mozarteum Salzburg.

2017 Edition

The third edition of the festival is scheduled to be held in from January 02 to 15, 2017, in the state of São Paulo. The recruitment process for local young musicians is underway, and applications are being received online.

Musicians

Musicians who have partaken in and been involved in the festival include: Jennifer Stumm (USA) – Viola and Artistic Director
Cristian Budu
(Brazil) – Piano
Joseph Conyers
(USA) – Double Bass
Giovanni Gnocchi
(Italy) – Cello
Julia Gartemann
(Germany) – Viola
Esther Hoppe
(Switzerland) – Violin

(USA) – Violin Alexandra Soumm (France) – Violin

References

{{Reflist Chamber music festivals Music festivals in Brazil Classical music festivals in Brazil Music festivals established in 2015

History

2016 Edition

2017 Edition

Musicians

See also

References