No Instruments, No Orchestra
There is always one, very important common problem that all orchestral education programmes are faced with; how to keep supplying enough instruments.
Just as critics of James Rhodes’ recent instrument amnesty campaign made clear; however well intentioned, just providing the instruments isn’t enough. Instruments need care, continued care, and NEOJIBA (like many of the other El Sistema programmes) have found a creative solution to this ongoing challenge.
11am - I’m picked up by Renata and we drive to the organisation’s main offices (staff are split between here and the Teastro Castrol Alves). I have a great morning meeting Renata’s colleagues from press, communications, human resources, administration, and development.
They show me a map of Bahia which shows their programmes of delivery across the state (remember Bahia is a similar size to France!). The team seem really clear on their objectives in this respect and have obviously been planning for a long time.
1pm - I will quickly mention lunch incase any Salvador travellers end up reading this and you are looking for a delicious and reasonably priced cafe in the centre of Pelourinho. Rango Vegan can be found on Rua Direita de Santo Antonio (about a 5 min walk from the centre square). www.rangovegan.com
I also get my very own recipe book which I intend to give to my Portuguese friend Filipa. Filipa is an amazing chef and dietician living in London and you can read her blog here.
2pm - And so, back to the instrument making... Next door to the organisations main offices (a lovely suburb house painted a midnight blue) is NEOJIBA’s very own luthier workshop.
We’re greeted at reception (which is full of repaired instruments) by Otoniel Junior and Jessica Silva Almeido who both started here on the Luthier apprentice programme.
Junior’s english is very good, and he explains that the workshop was started not long after NEOJIBA was founded. It began with just string instruments when the workshop was housed in the Teatro Castro Alves. But overtime, the programme outgrew that space. They now also repair woodwind and brass instruments (thanks to extra financial support from a separate foundation) and as we begin our tour I can hear the sound of a French Horn being taken through its paces somewhere from the back of the building.
More recently the team have also been making the plastic instruments for NEOJIBA’s new plastic instrument project. Here is a viola made from resin and recycled plastic tubing.
David Matos and Alan Jonos lead the team here - neither were instrument makers before NEOJIBA. Over the last 7 years they have been refining their skills while teaching a number of apprentices. I’m told they have received important support from Andre-Marc Huwuler who is a notable luthier in Switzerland.
Most of the work here concentrates on repairing instruments (including ones which get donated) rather than making them from scratch. It takes a long time to learn this craft and David, who has been involved from the beginning, only recently completed his first violin.
Repairing can range from re-stringing or patching up cracks to replacing the bridge...
and/or the neck... These are carved by hand.
This luthier work from Stradvarius designs like this one from 1716.
Onto the bow room where a range of bows are made and repaired by Jessica and her assistants. Bows come in different lengths according to the players arm length. The bow is just as important as the main body of the instrument and has a key role to play in creating a great sound.
Naturally, the best materials are needed... A cupboard door is rolled back to reveal horse hair ordered from Mongolia, Serbia and India.
And Jessica shows me a bow made from the famous red wood from Brazil -bows made of this wood are famous throughout the world. Reading up later, the Portuguese discovered the wood and named it Pau-Brasil, giving the country its name, but it is also know as Pernambuco tree, Nicaragua wood and Ibirapitanga.
It’s great to see a balanced gender mix amongst the 12 apprentices who are currently working and training at the Luthier. All of them are current or previous players of a NEOJIBA orchestras. An apprenticeship can take up to 3 years or longer to complete. I meet two apprentices who have just completed their first week - they are learning how to shape the ebony tuning pegs.
Before we leave, Junior enthusiastically shows me the team’s bible which is kept pristine on the shelf in it’s own box:
As a singer, and someone who has never played a stringed instrument, I’m completely fascinated by the fine balance between beautiful craftsmanship and careful science that is involved.
3.30pm - we head back to the Teatro Castro Alves where there is an OCA (Orchquestra Castro Alves) rehearsal happening until 5pm in preparation for a 3pm concert on Wednesday. The OCA, today conducted by Cássio Bittencourt and Tenison Santana, offers the next level down from the main youth orchestra and it is this group that musicians from the núcleos (the satellite projects) mostly feed into (if successful in the audition). The players are younger - the oldest is aroud 19 years old.
I finish my day by catching the first part of the youth orchestra’s rehearsal on stage in the main auditorium which seats an audience of 1546.
