Rio’s Espaço Botica Offers Live Music this Weekend

By Ciara Long, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On afternoons this weekend, Espaço Botica in Cosme Velho will host two performances from musical groups. The weekend’s events feature performers using traditional instruments for more contemporary or popular genres to draw attention to the importance of continuing musical experimentation.

Performing on Saturday, April 29th, two orchestra groups will occupy Espaço Botica from 4PM, in an event which hopes to strengthen Rio’s orchestral music scene, and highlight its diversity and range. Beginning the afternoon’s recitals will be Flautistas da Proarte, a flute group made up of 25 children and adolescents.

Flautistas da Proarte’s mission is to create an understanding of the diversity of Brazilian music through research, learning and practice . Their show will pay homage to Brazilian composer Vinicius de Moraes, followed by fellow flute group Flautistas da Marambaia.

Later in the afternoon, Orquestra Violões do Forte de Copacabana e Orquestra SindiRefeiçõesRJ wil perform from 6PM. Made up of 25 young people from Rio’s public school systems and associated social projects, the groups were formed in 2011 with the aim of helping young people develop creative skills through music.

Although the Orquestra Violões do Forte de Copacabana began with the idea of reviving MBP through guitar, the orchestra soon incorporated other instruments including clarinet, flute, trombone, saxophone, violin, bass and percussion instruments. Staying true to original inspiration, the orchestra’s repertoire consists of classical interpretations of MBP.

On Sunday April 30th from 6PM, Espaço Botica will hold the latest in their ‘Janelas Abertas’ series, offering live music without amplification to create an intimate atmosphere. This time, the event invites Sergipe-born duo Julio Rêgo and Ricardo Vieira to perform.

The duo fuse a seven-string guitar with a harmonica, and characterizes itself as fusing musical themes and landscapes from Brazil’s Northeast with pop culture, with diverse results including baião and maxixe works and recitals of classical compositions from names like Mauricio Einhorn and Jacob do Bandolim.

Known in Rio as a space for artistic performances and meetings, Espaço Botica can be found in the verdant Cosme Velho neighborhood. In the former house of visual artist Augusto Rodrigues, Casa 1 in Beco do Boticário, today Espaço Botica has been adopted by a group of musicians, educators, social scientists and designers as a creative space.

Rodrigues was an artistic pioneer, bringing the idea of integrating art into regular education for schoolchildren in Brazil into the mainstream during the 1930s. While he was originally from Pernambuco, he established himself in Rio’s Largo do Boticário in 1935, where he frequently entertained visitors from related arts, music and literary fields including Clarice Lispector, Turíbio Santos and Egberto Gismonti.

Both events are free to enter, with a voluntary contribution encouraged. There will also be art on display in the space from photographers Andrea Nestrea and Vivi Giaquinta, with food and drinks also on offer. Visitors should check the event’s Facebook pages in the case of heavy rain, which could result in cancellation.

What: Encontro de Orquestras do Espaço Botica and Janelas Abertas convida Julio Rêgo e Ricardo Vieira
When: Saturday, April 29th 4PM – 9PM and Sunday, April 30th 6PM – 10PM
Where: Espaço Botica, Beco do Boticário, Casa 1, Rua do Cosme Velho 829 – Cosme Velho
Entrance: FREE, with voluntary donations