LIVE-STREAMED CONCERT!
Friday 26 March, 1.10pm
Join us ONLINE for a beautiful lunchtime concert featuring Manu Brazo (saxophone), Prajna Indrawati (piano) and Claudia Gallardo (violin) streamed from St James’s Church, Piccadilly.
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PROGRAMME
JS Bach (1685-1750)
Allemande, from Partita in A minor, BWV 1013
Manuel de Falla (1770-1827)
La vida breve: Spanish Dance No.1
José Elizondo
Otoño en Buenos Aires
Traditional, arr. Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
Danny Boy (Farewell to Cucullain)
Ralph Martino
A Gershwin Fantasy
Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945)
Intermezzo Cavalleria Rusticana
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
Sevilla
Jean Matitia (b.1952)
Devil’s Rag
Vittoria Monti (1868-1922)
Csárdás
BIOGRAPHIES
MANU BRAZO - saxophone
Manu Brazo is a young Spanish saxophonist who has established himself as one of his generations most versatile young musicians. At ease on the stage he is often praised for his unique sound and virtuosity as well as having the ability to have a close and intimate relationship with his audience. He regularly mixes a musical and often technically challenging performance with anecdotes about himself or the composers.
Over the last few years Manu has been a regular recitalist at British and international music festivals such as Leeds International Concert Season, Tetbury Music Festival, Newbury Spring Festival, Aegean Arts Festival in Crete and Risor Kammermussikkfest in Norway. He has also given solo performances throughout the UK and Europe and played with the London City Orchestra, RCM Philharmonic, Orquesta Betica de Camara and Orquesta Filarmonia. In 2018 he was selected to take part in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme where he performed at the Snape Maltings Proms conducted by Marin Alsop. Manu has also been a regular guest on BBC Radio 3 In Tune.
Last summer Manu, accompanied by pianist Bryan Evans MBE, was invited by promoters Live Nation to be the opening act for Sir Cliff Richard at Greenwich Music Time Festival and to open Downton Live at Highclere Castle to audiences of around 12,000 people.
The global pandemic in March saw all his forthcoming concerts, masterclasses and debut recording in Italy cancelled.Determined not to give up Manu took a different route and built his own recording studio, learnt how to edit to a professional standard and recorded his debut album Solo Dialogue which was released in June 2020. A collection of five solo saxophone tracks with accompanying videos the aim is to express the different emotions that Manu experienced when the world shut down and to show there is still hope and optimism. The recording and videos have been supported by Classic FM on their social media sites as well as BBC Radio 3 In Tune.
Born in Seville, Spain, Manu started to play saxophone at the age of 9. He studied in Seville and was accepted and funded to study at Royal College of Music, where he graduated from his Master in Performance and Artist Diploma with Distinction and won numerous awards.
PRAJNA INDRAWATI - piano
Indonesian pianist Prajna Indrawati honed her Master of Performance degree in Piano Accompaniment (2018) at the Royal College of Music under tutelage of Roger Vignoles, Kathron Sturrock, and Simon Lepper. She performed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Royal Festival Hall, for BBRadio3 “in Tune”, in St. James Picadilly, Kings Place London, Newbury Spring Festival, Alderney Music Festival, etc; as well in Seville (Spain) and Creete (Greece). She was awarded second place for Accompanist Prize in “Brooks- van der Pump” English Song Competition and Joan Chisell Schumann Competition and Titanic Memoriam Award for accompanist in Lies Askonas Competition 2018. Recently, she joined Jakarta City Philharmonic as a soloist in Mozart Piano Concerto c minor. She achieved her Diploma in Piano Performance and Grade 8 Singing from ABRSM. Prajna has worked as an accompanist for singers and choirs across Asia and Europe.
CLAUDIA GALLARDO - violin
Claudia was born in Cadiz (Spain). She started playing the violin at the age of 5 years in the International School of Algeciras. She studied in her bachelor in music at Conservatorio Superior de Música de Sevilla and just finished her Master in Performance at Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Jacqueline Ross. Claudia has performed with many youth orchestras in Spain, including the Orquesta Joven de Andalucia for which she has been concertmaster. She has played under the baton of Michael Thomas, Arturo Tamayo and Manuel Hernández-Silva.
