USP Symphony Orchestra opens 2023 season in tribute to the Clock Tower

UPDATE 24/3/2023 | Due to Decree No. 67.603, of 23.03.2023, and Circular Letter GR/CIRC/77, which decreed an official holiday on March 24, 2023, the Osusp performance that was to take place today, at noon, has been canceled. A new date will be announced shortly.

Built in 1973, USP’s Clock Tower celebrates its 50th anniversary. In celebration, Osusp is performing a musical series that explores the areas of fantasy and reality, which are highlighted in the monument’s 12 figures in high and low relief

By Elcio Silva
3/7/2023 – 1:48 p.m. – Cover photo – Pecege Audiovisual

The Orquestra Simfônica da USP (Osusp) opens its 2023 season on March 18, at 4 pm, at the Anfiteatro Camargo Guarniere. The event marks the start of the academic year and is also part of the freshman welcome week. Free tickets are open to all interested parties, even those not affiliated with USP, and can be purchased in advance online on the appticket platform. Osusp suggests that the public donate a kilo of non-perishable food.

Detail of music score and instrument – Photo Cecília Bastos – USP Images

Under the Conduct of Gil Jardim maestro, who also leads the Orchestra, and with a solo by Italian harmonica player Gianluca Littera, Osusp will open with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op.67, followed by Gabriel’s Oboe (soundtrack to the movie The Mission) and Cinema Paradiso, both by Ennio Morricone, with arrangements by Enrico Blatti and M. Tan, respectively. This will be followed by Beija Flor, by César Camargo Mariano, and Vera Cruz, by Milton Nascimento, both arranged by Gil Jardim. Oblivion & Libertango, by Astor Piazzolla, arranged by Gianluca Littera, concludes the performance.

Praça do relógio in Cidade Universitária (Butantã) with the tower in the background. Photo by Elcio Silva – PRCEU

Designed by architect Rino Levi and inaugurated 50 years ago, the Praça do relógio comprises two concrete slabs 50 meters high and 10 meters wide. These slabs have 12 panels, six on each side, with drawings in high and low relief created by the artist Elisabeth Nobiling, symbolizing the world of fantasy and the world of reality. She stands in the center of a circle containing a water mirror. Surrounding her is the phrase “In the universe of culture, the center is everywhere”, uttered by the jurist and former rector of USP, Miguel Reale, in the 1950s. This is the title of Osusp’s 2023 season, composed of five cycles.

Season 2023

The Concertos da Torre do Relógio brings seven musical programs inspired by Nobiling’s drawings, that will be presented at the Anfiteatro Camargo Guarnieri. At the end of each of the seven performances, there will be chats mediated by USP’s Pro-rector of Culture and University Extension, Professor Marli Quadros Leite.

The opening of the series with the theme Sustentabilidade em Foco (Sustainability in Focus), with the presence of professors Marcos Buckeridge from the Instituto de Biociências (IB), Carlos Eduardo Cerri, from the Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiróz  (Esalq) and Marcelo Machado, a filmmaker and former student at the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). The meetings will be coordinated by violinist Eliane Tokeshi, deputy director of Osusp and professor at the Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA).

Audience at the entrance to the Anfiteatro Camargo Guarnieri during Osusp’s performance in 2022. Photo: Cecília Bastos/USP Imagens

The public will also be able to follow four other cycles: Esculpir o Tempo; Tempo! A diversidade nas lentes da música de câmara; Semana Camargo Guarnieri; e Jogos Musicais.

In Esculpir o Tempo (Sculpting Time) there will be ten programs based on the triad: tradition – nationality – contemporaneity. The foreign guest conductors will always bring something special and typical of their lands. Luis Otávio Santos, Alejandra Urrutía, Aylton Escobar, Luis Gorelik, Knut Andreas, Ligia Amadio, Tobias Volkmann, Yeny Delgado, Lutero Rodrigues and Richard Kogima are among the guest orchestra directors.

Tempo! A diversidade nas lentes da música de câmara (Time! The diversity of chamber music lenses) inspires six programs organized monthly in ensembles of 10 to 15 musicians or in chamber groups. In musical writing, the time determines the tempo/temperament of the work or the frequency/speed of the sound pulses in a given time space.

Director of Osusp, the maestro Gil Jardim will conduct the first concert of the 2023 season. Photo: Cecília Bastos/USP Imagens

The Semana Camargo Guarnieri (Camargo Guarnieri Week) will feature recitals, concerts, symposia, and round tables dedicated to the life and work of Mozart Camargo Guarnieri. According to conductor Gil Jardim, “It is impossible to separate the history of Osusp from this great Brazilian composer, who led the orchestra from its foundation in 1975 until he stepped down in 1993, the year of his death”.  The series is curated by professionals specialized in the composer’s work, such as professor Flávia Camargo Toni, from the Institutos de Estudos Brasileiros (IEB), conductor and professor Lutero Rodrigues, from Universidade do Estado de São Paulo (Unesp), violinist Tânia Guarnieri, the composer’s daughter, and Gil Jardim himself.

The Jogos Musicais (Musical Games) cycle brings articulate and spontaneous exchanges between musicians and the audience, as it is dedicated to audience formation, whether for children, young people, or adults. “It’s necessary to go beyond recognizing an instrument. The ideal will always be to understand how the language is articulated to broaden perception in all senses,” says conductor Gil Jardim.

^{The Opening concert of Osusp’s 2023 season held on 3/18/2023. It was conducted by maestro Gil Jardim and solo by Italian harmonica player Gianluca Littera.}

Service

Osusp Abertura da Temporada 2023

In the universe of culture, the center is everywhere

Where | Anfiteatro Camargo Guarnieri
Rua do Anfiteatro, 109 – Butantã, São Paulo
When | free
Part of the tickets will be distributed on the day of the events. Osusp suggests that the public donate a kilo of non-perishable food.

Informations (11) 3091- 3000 | sinfonica@usp.br |  http://www.osusp.prceu.usp.br/

The schedule of upcoming concerts can be found on the Osusp website or at cultura.usp.br

Translated by: Lara Yoshime Shizuko Fukushima