The Festival América do Sul 2023 brings two new additions to the musical lineup for the public: the Catedral Clássica (Classical Cathedral), which will feature a program devoted to classical and instrumental music, and the Casarão Cultural (Cultural Mansion), featuring musicians from other Brazilian states.

The shows begin on Friday, November 10th, at 9 a.m., at the Nossa Senhora da Candelária Cathedral, with Tetê Espíndola and the Orquestra de Câmara do Pantanal. Also on the 10th, at the Casarão Cultural, held at the Muphan headquarters, musician Lucas Gomes, from São Paulo, will perform.

On Saturday, November 11th, at 9 a.m., it’s the turn of the Orquestra Indígena and the Orquestra de Câmara de Santa Cruz, from Bolivia, at the Nossa Senhora da Candelária Cathedral, and at 8 a.m., at the Casarão Cultural, the Muphan headquarters, musicians Luiz Meira, from Santa Catarina, and Vanessa Moreno, from São Paulo, will perform. To close out this more-than-special program, on Sunday the 12th, at 9 a.m., the Coro Lírico Cant’Arte and the Orquestra Sinfônica de Campo Grande will perform at the Nossa Senhora da Candelária Cathedral, along with the Papi Galan Trio.

The Catedral Clássica program was put together by the Fundação de Cultura de Mato Grosso do Sul together with conductor Eduardo Martinelli. “The Fundação de Cultura team was the one who managed to make everything run smoothly. They even took care to include acts from other countries, especially our neighboring countries here, Paraguay and Bolivia. The Festival is very well represented, with an orchestral group coming from Santa Cruz, a harp trio coming from Asunción, all of them doing very significant work. The Bolivian group’s work carries great social and artistic relevance, and the act from Paraguay is a highly acclaimed musician who lived 30 years in Europe working nonstop.”

For the conductor, the idea of holding the Catedral Clássica arose out of necessity. “There are several festivals of such importance in Brazil that do this, and once we realize that we too are able to do it, we actually fit the pieces together. It’s about further democratizing access to music, because a Festival that brings diverse artists, musical genres from various countries — the more languages included in this festival, the more it fulfills the goal of democratizing access to culture, more specifically in this case to music,” he continues.

“Concert music in our State is a reality, and it no longer makes sense to leave it out of this programming. We have the Programa Vale Música (Music Valley Program) project, which happens in Corumbá and has an orchestra that performed at Expo Dubai, one of the biggest events in the world, and it will be performing here now with Tetê. We go outside the State, outside the Country. So what’s the point of not being here in this regional program? We have to be here, we insist on being here. It’s a necessity that reality brings us, to be able to collaborate, participate, diversify, and add to such a wonderful event.”