São Paulo State Symphony
Encyclopedia
Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP) (São Paulo State Symphony) is a symphony orchestra based in São Paulo
, Brazil
. With more than 130 concerts during its annual season, it is one of the largest and best known orchestra
s in South America.
s, OSESP brings to Brazil some of the major current soloists and conductor
s, such as Kurt Masur
, Gennady Rozhdestvensky
, Osmo Vänskä
, and Marin Alsop
, singers such as Barbara Hendricks
, Nathalie Stutzmann
and Sergei Leiferkus
, pianists Stephen Kovacevich
, Maria João Pires
, Paul Lewis
and Nelson Freire
, flutist Emmanuel Pahud, cellist Antonio Meneses
, and violinists Pinchas Zukerman, Leila Josefowicz and Leonidas Kavakos, among the more than 60 visiting artists each year.
Founded by Sousa Lima in 1954, OSESP alternated between periods of success and great difficulty, including a hiatus in its activities. After Italian conductor, Bruno Roccela’s stay, the group was under the command of Eleazar de Carvalho
for 24 years, until his death in 1996.
Under the direction of John Neschling
from 1997 to 2008, the orchestra went through major transformations which positioned them as a reference for quality and excellence in the fields of art, culture, and education in Brazil.
With the support of the State Government, the Eleazar de Carvalho Musical Documentation Center was founded, and Osesp launched an orchestral subscription series, various educational programs and volunteer groups, a publisher for scores called “Criadores do Brasil,” and a Music Academy (founded 2006, hosting 20 students per year). It also initiated a partnership with the Swedish recording company BIS to launch more than 20 CDs of the orchestra’s performances, as well as an on-going partnership with Brazilian label Biscoito Fino. The more than 40 CDs that have been recorded to date by OSESP include all the symphonies of Camargo Guarnieri, Francisco Braga’s opera Jupyra, works by Francisco Mignone
and Claudio Santoro
, and Villa-Lobos's complete Bachianas Brasileiras
and Choros
. Beginning 2011, the orchestra will start recording the complete cycle of eleven symphonies by Villa-Lobos, conducted by Isaac Karabtchevsky
, for the Naxos label. For the same label it will also begin a complete cycle of Prokofiev's symphonies, conducted by the new Chief Conductor, Marin Alsop
.
The former Symphonic Chorus of the State of São Paulo was incorporated into the OSESP, thus creating the Symphonic Chorus and the Chamber Chorus (Naomi Munakata, conductor). Also created was the Children’s Chorus (Teruo Yoshida, conductor) and in 2004, the Teenagers’ Chorus (Yoshida).
Over the last years, OSESP has toured Brazil, Latin America, the United States and Europe. The latest tour in Europe (2010, including Vienna, Salzburg, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Madrid and other places) has already led to invitations to a return trip in 2013.
Since 2005, the orchestra has been run by the OSESP Foundation, a non-profit organization presided by former President of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Government support (from the State of São Paulo) amounts to more than 60% of the budget; the rest comes from private funding, ticket sales and subscribers.
In January 2009 it was announced that Neschling's contract with OSESP was rescinded with immediate effect by the orchestra's governing board. The French conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier
was named Chief Conductor for 2010 and 2011, after one year as principal guest. From January 2010, music scholar and writer Arthur Nestrovski was named Artistic Director, in charge of programming, educational activities, publications and outreach programs. In February, 2011 it was announced that Marin Alsop
would become Chief Conductor with a five year contract beginning in 2012. Tortelier will remain as Principal Guest Conductor. Celso Antunes
will be the Associate Conductor (2012-16).
opened as a concert hall and the new home of OSESP. It occupies buildings of the imposing Júlio Prestes Station, and it can accommodate 1,499 spectators.
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. With more than 130 concerts during its annual season, it is one of the largest and best known orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s in South America.
Background
With broad-based programming, juxtaposing the great works of international classical music with world premieres and pieces by Brazilian composerComposer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s, OSESP brings to Brazil some of the major current soloists and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
s, such as Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur is a German conductor, particularly noted for his interpretation of German Romantic music.- Biography :Masur was born in Brieg, Lower Silesia, Germany and studied piano, composition and conducting in Leipzig, Saxony. Masur has been married three times...
, Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky is a Russian conductor.-Biography:Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagogue Nikolai Anosov and soprano Natalya Rozhdestvenskaya...
, Osmo Vänskä
Osmo Vänskä
Osmo Antero Vänskä is a Finnish conductor, clarinetist and composer.He started his musical career as an orchestral clarinetist with the Turku Philharmonic . He then became the principal clarinet of the Helsinki Philharmonic from 1977 to 1982...
, and Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop is an American conductor and violinist. She is the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.In 2012, Alsop will replace Yan Pascal Tortelier as principal conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra....
, singers such as Barbara Hendricks
Barbara Hendricks
Barbara Hendricks is an African American operatic soprano and concert singer. Hendricks has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Switzerland on Lake Geneva since 1985, She is a citizen of Sweden.-Early life and education:...
, Nathalie Stutzmann
Nathalie Stutzmann
Nathalie Stutzmann is a contemporary opera singer, renowned for her contralto voice.Born in Suresnes, France, 1965, she first studied with her mother , then at Nantes Conservatoire and later, at the Ecole d’Art Lyrique de l’Opéra de Paris, focusing on lied, under Hans Hotter's tutelage...
and Sergei Leiferkus
Sergei Leiferkus
Sergei Leiferkus is an operatic baritone from Russia, known for his dramatic technique and powerful voice particularly in Russian and Italian language repertoire. He is most notable for his roles as Scarpia in Tosca, Iago in Otello, Grand-prétre de Dagon in Samson et Dalila and Simon Boccanegra...
, pianists Stephen Kovacevich
Stephen Kovacevich
Stephen Kovacevich , who has also been known as Stephen Bishop and Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich is an American classical pianist and conductor.-Biography:...
, Maria João Pires
Maria João Pires
-Musical studies:Her first recital was at the age of five, and at the age of seven she was already playing Mozart Piano Concertos publicly. Two years later she received Portugal's top prize for young musicians. In the following years, she studied with Professor Campos Coelho at the Lisbon...
, Paul Lewis
Paul Lewis
Paul Lewis may refer to:*Paul Lewis , American architect and professor at the Princeton University School of Architecture*Paul Lewis , African American activist who lived in London, Ontario...
and Nelson Freire
Nelson Freire
Nelson Freire is a Brazilian classical pianist.Freire began playing the piano when he was three years old. He replayed from memory pieces his older sister had just performed. His teachers in Brazil were Nise Obino and Lucia Branco, former students of a pupil of Liszt. For his first public recital,...
, flutist Emmanuel Pahud, cellist Antonio Meneses
Antonio Meneses
Antônio Meneses Neto is a Brazilian cellist.He won the VI Tchaikovsky competition. A member of the Beaux Arts Trio, Meneses combines an intense soloist concert career with chamber music performances. He is a teacher at Bern's Hochschule der Künste.- References :* *...
, and violinists Pinchas Zukerman, Leila Josefowicz and Leonidas Kavakos, among the more than 60 visiting artists each year.
Founded by Sousa Lima in 1954, OSESP alternated between periods of success and great difficulty, including a hiatus in its activities. After Italian conductor, Bruno Roccela’s stay, the group was under the command of Eleazar de Carvalho
Eleazar de Carvalho
Eleazar de Carvalho was a Brazilian conductor and composer.-Biography:De Carvalho's parents were Manuel Alfonso de Carvalho and Dalila Mendonça...
for 24 years, until his death in 1996.
Under the direction of John Neschling
John Neschling
John Neschling is a Brazilian orchestral and operatic conductor.He has been member of the Brazilian Academy of Music since 2003 and lives in São Paulo....
from 1997 to 2008, the orchestra went through major transformations which positioned them as a reference for quality and excellence in the fields of art, culture, and education in Brazil.
With the support of the State Government, the Eleazar de Carvalho Musical Documentation Center was founded, and Osesp launched an orchestral subscription series, various educational programs and volunteer groups, a publisher for scores called “Criadores do Brasil,” and a Music Academy (founded 2006, hosting 20 students per year). It also initiated a partnership with the Swedish recording company BIS to launch more than 20 CDs of the orchestra’s performances, as well as an on-going partnership with Brazilian label Biscoito Fino. The more than 40 CDs that have been recorded to date by OSESP include all the symphonies of Camargo Guarnieri, Francisco Braga’s opera Jupyra, works by Francisco Mignone
Francisco Mignone
Francisco Paulo Mignone is one of the most significant figures in Brazilian classical music, and one of the most significant Brazilian composers after Heitor Villa-Lobos...
and Claudio Santoro
Cláudio Santoro
Cláudio Franco de Sá Santoro was an internationally renowned Brazilian composer and violinist.-Early life:...
, and Villa-Lobos's complete Bachianas Brasileiras
Bachianas Brasileiras
The Bachianas Brasileiras constitute a series of nine suites by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written for various combinations of instruments and voices between 1930 and 1945...
and Choros
Choros
Choros was the ruling clan of the Zungars and Dorbets and once ruled the whole Four Oirats. They founded the Zunghar Empire in the 17th century. According to a myth, their chiefs reckoned their descent from a boy nourished by a sacred tree, a legend shared with the Uyghur royal family.In the late...
. Beginning 2011, the orchestra will start recording the complete cycle of eleven symphonies by Villa-Lobos, conducted by Isaac Karabtchevsky
Isaac Karabtchevsky
Isaac Karabtchevsky in São Paulo) is a brazilian conductor of russian jew ancestry. He studied music and conducting in Germany, where his teachers included Wolfgang Fortner, Pierre Boulez and Carl Ueter....
, for the Naxos label. For the same label it will also begin a complete cycle of Prokofiev's symphonies, conducted by the new Chief Conductor, Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop is an American conductor and violinist. She is the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.In 2012, Alsop will replace Yan Pascal Tortelier as principal conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra....
.
The former Symphonic Chorus of the State of São Paulo was incorporated into the OSESP, thus creating the Symphonic Chorus and the Chamber Chorus (Naomi Munakata, conductor). Also created was the Children’s Chorus (Teruo Yoshida, conductor) and in 2004, the Teenagers’ Chorus (Yoshida).
Over the last years, OSESP has toured Brazil, Latin America, the United States and Europe. The latest tour in Europe (2010, including Vienna, Salzburg, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Madrid and other places) has already led to invitations to a return trip in 2013.
Since 2005, the orchestra has been run by the OSESP Foundation, a non-profit organization presided by former President of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Government support (from the State of São Paulo) amounts to more than 60% of the budget; the rest comes from private funding, ticket sales and subscribers.
In January 2009 it was announced that Neschling's contract with OSESP was rescinded with immediate effect by the orchestra's governing board. The French conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier
Yan Pascal Tortelier
Yan Pascal Tortelier is an internationally renowned French conductor and violinist and is the son of the late cellist Paul Tortelier.-Biography:...
was named Chief Conductor for 2010 and 2011, after one year as principal guest. From January 2010, music scholar and writer Arthur Nestrovski was named Artistic Director, in charge of programming, educational activities, publications and outreach programs. In February, 2011 it was announced that Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop is an American conductor and violinist. She is the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.In 2012, Alsop will replace Yan Pascal Tortelier as principal conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra....
would become Chief Conductor with a five year contract beginning in 2012. Tortelier will remain as Principal Guest Conductor. Celso Antunes
Celso Antunes
Celso Antunes is a Brazilian conductor located in Germany.-Biography:Antunes studied singing and conducting at the University of São Paulo, achieved recognition as assistant conductor of the São Paulo Youth Symphony Orchestra and obtained a DAAD scholarship to complete his studies on at the...
will be the Associate Conductor (2012-16).
Sala São Paulo
In 1999, Sala São PauloSala São Paulo
The Julio Prestes Cultural Center, which is located in the Julio Prestes Train Station in the old north central section of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, was inaugurated on July 9, 1999. The building has been totally restored and renovated by the São Paulo State Government, as part of the downtown...
opened as a concert hall and the new home of OSESP. It occupies buildings of the imposing Júlio Prestes Station, and it can accommodate 1,499 spectators.