On October 4 and 5, the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, OSB) will hold concerts honoring the Center-West region, as part of the series A OSB no Brasil (The OSB in Brazil), which showcases the Brazilian multiculturalism present across the country’s various regions. The Orchestra is recognized for the pioneering nature of its work and was the first to tour Brazil and abroad, in addition to holding major open-air performances and audience-building projects.

For the production process of the show’s theoretical content, the OSB had the support of professor and researcher of the Master’s Program in Border Studies at the Pantanal Campus of UFMS (Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul), Marco Aurélio Machado de Oliveira. “The OSB’s artistic director, Nikolay Sapoundjiev, contacted me on a recommendation from the president of the Instituto Moinho Cultural (Moinho Cultural Institute) of Corumbá. He needed someone to collaborate on this project who could provide information about the Center-West,” the professor says of the invitation.

After accepting the invitation, the professor received all the repertoire and show structure material, such as images, symphonic arrangements, and more. “I gave some suggestions regarding the concept of the Center-West issue, which was not merely the result of a bandeirante insertion into the center of the continent. We talked about the Hispanic presence that became Paraguayan and Bolivian, about the indigenous question and enslaved workers,” he says.

From there, Marco Aurélio contributed to creating the theoretical and research content and, according to the OSB’s executive director, Gregório de Melo Tavares, played a fundamental role. “The professor was one of the main people responsible for conceiving the project,” he highlights.

“It was an incredible, wonderful, fantastic experience. The Orchestra’s brilliance and greatness, its symbolic weight, fit perfectly with the professionalism and generosity with which they treated me. I haven’t watched the result yet, since I’ll be able to see it up close in October,” says the professor, who has worked in culture for some time, though never on anything of this scale.

Invited for the concerts honoring the Center-West is viola caipira player Carol Carneiro. The repertoire includes classics of caipira music and chamamé, also paying tribute to traditional dances and round-dance songs. The OSB is conducted by maestro Eduardo Pereira.

I’ll be at the Teatro Riachuelo and my expectations are the best possible. Products bearing the OSB name are of the highest quality. It is an institution extremely careful with Brazilian culture. I will certainly be in front of a truly beautiful show,” Marco Aurélio concludes.

The series