By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The MIMO Festival, the largest instrumental music festival in Brazil, will make its Rio de Janeiro debut on Friday, November 13th. Continuing for three days through Sunday, November 15th in eight locations in the city, the festival will feature twenty concerts performed by both international and national artists as well as 23 film screenings, educational activities and workshops and lectures presented by the guest musicians.
Helping to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Rio de Janeiro, the festival’s shows and events are all free and will take place in locations important to the city’s historical heritage including Parque Lage, Museu da República, Cine Odeon, Igreja da Candelária, Igreja da Penha, Outeiro da Glória, Sala Cecília Meireles, Espaço Guiomar Novaes and Espaço Cultural BNDES.
The symphony orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica Cesgranrio led by conductor Eder Paolozzi will open the festival at the Igreja da Candelária on Friday, November 13th at 6:30 PM, with Spanish guitarist Daniel Casares following at 9PM.
In the Espaço Cultural BNDES on Friday, Scottish musicians, violinist Chris Stout and harpist Catrionia Mckay will perform at 7PM followed at 8PM by Malian blues guitarist Boubacar Traoré. Brazilian DJ, Marcelinho da Lua will spin at 10PM and Angolan / Portuguese musician and producer Pedro Coquenão will present his project, Batida will perform beginning at 10PM to close out the night.
On Saturday, November 14th at the Museu da República in Catete, the Brazilian group Grande Cia Brasileira de Mysterios e Novidades will start the day at 11AM followed by Brazilian composer Antonio Guerra at 3PM. Then, Brazilians Nailor Proveta and Alessandro Penezzi will perform beginning at 5PM. At Igreja da Penha, South Korean duo Su:M will deliver their unique modern take on traditional Korean music beginning at 4PM.
At Parque Lage on Saturday, Banda Black Rio will start the night at 6PM followed by Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tom Zé. Internationally acclaimed Nigerian guitarist and singer-songwriter Bombino will perform beginning at 10PM.
On Sunday, November 16th at Museu da República, the Brazilian Orquestra Popular Tuhu will perform, beginning at 11AM. David Ganc and the Quarteto Guerra-peixe with Mingo Araújo will follow at 3PM and Boubacar Traoré will return to perform beginning at 5PM. Additionally, João Camarero will perform at Igreja Nossa Senhora do Outeiro da Glória beginning at 6:30 PM.
At Parque Lage on Sunday, the Academia Juvenil da Orquestra Petrobras Sinfônica (The Petrobras Youth Symphony Orchestra) will perform beginning at 2:30 PM and the Juarez Moreira Quarteto will follow, beginning at 4PM. SU:M will return to perform at 6PM and well-known Brazilian, Alceu Valença will perform with the Orquestra Ouro Preto beginning at 10PM.
The film section of the festival will feature 23 movies, both foreign and nation, that focus on the world of music from rock to samba to frevo to reggae. Notable features include “Sem dentes: Banguela Records e a turma de 94” (“No teeth: Toothless Records and the group of 94,”), a film by Ricardo Alexandre that tells the story of Brazil record label, Banguela Records and “The Amazing Nina Simone,” a film by German filmmaker Jeff L. Lieberman, which explores the career trajectory of legendary singer Nina Simone. All screenings are free will take place at Cine Oden in Centro.
The festival’s workshops will feature the guest musicians discussing their crafts and genres. All workshops will be free and will take place in two locations in the Museu da República. The schedule on Friday, November 13th includes the lectures “Violin in Traditional Scottish Music,” led by Scottish violinist Chris Stout at 9:30 AM; “Sambasoul – Banda Black Rio and the album ‘Maria Fumça’,” led by William Magalhães at 3:30 PM; “Brazilian Guitar” led by critically-acclaimed Brazilian guitarist Alessandro Penezzi at 3:30 PM “Improvisation Over Time” led by Brazil David Ganc at 5:30 PM and “Listening to Tom Zé,” led by Tom Zé beginning at 5:30 PM.
On Saturday at Museu da República, SU:M will present the lecture “Korean Traditional Music and its Instruments” at 9:30 AM; Brazilian Nailor Proveta will host “Improviso no Choro,” (Choro Improvisation) at 9:30 AM; Nigerian musician Bombino will host “Guitar of Sahara” at 3:30PM; French musician Vincent Bucher will host “Blues Around the World” at 3:30 PM; Spanish guitarist Daniel Casares will host “Flamenco Guitar” at 3:30 PM and Pedro Coquenão will host “Post-war of Angolan Music” at 5:30 PM.
For more information about the festival, performers, venues, and events see the official MIMO 2015 website.
What: MIMO Festival
When: Friday, November 13th through Sunday, November 15th
Where: Various locations: Parque Lage, Museu da República, Cine Odeon, Igreja da Candelária, Igreja da Penha, Outeiro da Glória, Sala Cecília Meireles, Espaço Guiomar Novaes and Espaço Cultural BNDES
Entrance: FREE