Conductor of the Orquestra de Câmara do Pantanal (Pantanal Chamber Orchestra, OCAMP), José Maikson, 27, has been taking part since Wednesday (5th) in an immersion at the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, OSB), in Rio de Janeiro. Maikson, who is preparing to become OCAMP’s conductor, where he already performs as a cellist, will undergo mentoring with the OSB’s conductor, Ubiratã Rodrigues.
The young man began his musical journey at the Instituto Moinho Cultural Sul-Americano (South American Moinho Cultural Institute) at age 10. For two years, he devoted himself to the piano. Later, however, he chose the cello, the instrument he decided to pursue professionally. The musician only left Moinho Cultural in 2016, when he went to study music in São Paulo.
“In 2020, I moved back to Corumbá and, in 2021, I started working at Moinho as a teacher. But I was always connected to Moinho, even while living away. Sometimes, when I came home on vacation, I would give a few classes, make recordings. The ties were never broken,” recalls the musician.
This year, José Maikson took over conducting the Orquestra Sinfônica Jovem do Moinho Cultural (Moinho Cultural Youth Symphony Orchestra). He spent eight months in the role and, recently, received the invitation to become OCAMP’s conductor, also created within the institution. Now, the opportunity is to spend 15 days learning from the conductor of one of the country’s largest orchestras.
“My expectations couldn’t be better. The OSB is one of Brazil’s largest orchestras and we have always been partners. In recent years, Moinho Cultural and the OSB have strengthened their ties. We have managed, for example, to bring OSB musicians to teach Moinho participants and to train our teachers. Last year, I took an online course with conductor Roberto Tibiriçá, also on conducting, and now I have a new opportunity,” says OCAMP’s conductor.
After the immersion with the OSB’s conductor, Maikson goes on tour with the Nova Orquestra (New Orchestra), which, like Moinho Cultural and the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, is supported by the Instituto Cultural Vale (Vale Cultural Institute). The tour passes through Rio de Janeiro, Brasília (DF), Corumbá (MS), and São Luís (MA). Afterward, José begins preparing for the Moinho In Concert, which will take place in December, in Corumbá, and celebrates the 18th anniversary of the Instituto Moinho Cultural Sul-Americano.
Even with so much happening in such a short time, the musician says his dreams don’t stop there. “My family never had good conditions. My mother was always a housekeeper and my father always worked on a farm. Moinho Cultural, as soon as I joined, was a turning point both in my life and in my family’s. I had the opportunity to play an instrument, but also to learn about citizenship, to be a better person for society. The plan now is to take the name of Moinho Cultural further, and I also want to help transform the lives of the children and teenagers served by the institution through culture,” he assures.
Moinho Cultural’s executive director, Márcia Rolon, reports that the partnership with the Instituto Cultural Vale provides the opportunity to carry out exchanges like this one and allows the institution’s work to be improved and to reach more children and teenagers.
“Moinho Cultural has 18 years of history and, in this period, more than 23,000 children and teenagers have been served. All of this is thanks to partners who believe in our work, such as the Instituto Cultural Vale and the OSB. It is thanks to this joint effort that we have stories like José Maikson’s, which fills us with pride and encourages us to keep going,” says Márcia.
