Author: Chiara

Los Angeles, August 2018  Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Andrew Bain, Christopher Still

To play a concert at the iconic Hollywood Bowl is just so cool. There is really nothing like it. When the LA Phil´s principal horn Andrew Bain invited me to come and play with the orchestra, I jumped at the chance – and brought my Sarah´s Music team with me too!

Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil´s music & artistic director, gave a wonderful interview, as always, and his second Sarah´s Music Horn Challenge went even better than the first. I think he has been practising secretly… Thanks too to Andrew Bain and Chris Still for their musician insights, it made all three of us hungry to be out amongst the picnics before the concert!

I hope this episode will inspire you to book a visit to the Bowl – I promise you you will have a wonderful musical and culinary experience!

Beethovenfest Bonn, September 2018 Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Camerata Bern

Pat is really a true force of nature. We had never met properly so I was really looking forward to filming with her. The day of a concert on tour is always somewhat stressful for musicians – new hall, rehearsals etc so I was very grateful that Pat made time for the interview. And what a great place for an interview in Bonn it was – on the banks of the Rhine river!

I was also very happy to discover the Camerata Bern. Their ensemble playing is fantastic and they supported Pat in her solo pieces the whole time. The Karl Amadeus Hartmann Concerto Funebre for violin and string ensemble was incredibly moving – I had always thought that it wasn’t my cup of tea but hearing Pat explain the piece in the interview and then experiencing her interpretation of it in the concert, my mind was changed completely.

I had such fun with Pat – I wish the episode could have been an hour as she said so many wonderful things. Don’t miss the extra video where we discuss the horn parts in the Beethoven violin concerto… I think we’ll make a horn player out of her yet!

Santiago de Chile, June 2018  Gustavo Dudamel

When I received Gustavo´s invitation to fly halfway across the world to Santiago de Chile for four days to take part in his hommage concert for his beloved mentor, Maestro José Antonio Abreu, I didn´t hesitate for a second. It was an honour to have been asked and the long flight over and the jet lag were totally worth it – I wouldn´t have missed this concert for the world!

Gustavo had assembled a fine orchestra for this event – a global music community really came together the celebrate the life and legacy of Maestro Abreu and his vision for music and youth development. Maestro Abreu, the founder of El Sistema, would have loved everything about this concert – seasoned professionals from Gustavo´s “musical family” (Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, LA Philharmonic and Gothenburg Symphony) playing along side the National Youth Orchestra of Chile (FOJI) and 20 musicians from the Simon Bolivar Orchestra from Venezuela. The atmosphere was electric from the first moment on and I loved working with the young musicians.

I was very happy and honoured to be able to film this episode of Sarah´s Music about the event. It was really hard to pack all the joy and inspiration of these four days into 12 minutes but I hope you get a feeling from this how special this event was.

Thanks to Gustavo´s wonderful team from the Gustavo Dudamel Foundation for all their support and help and for setting up this wonderful event. Rest in peace, Maestro Abreu, you will never be forgotten.

Berlin, May 2018  Pekka Kuusisto, Aamu Song, Teemu Korpipää

People often ask me how I come up with all the ideas for the Sarah´s Music programmes. Well, I keep my eyes open on all the classical music pages to see what I would find interesting and thank goodness the viewers seem to agree with me! One night I was having a look to see what was going on in Berlin and I suddenly saw RED on the Boulez Saal´s Facebook feed… I immediately clicked to see more and was delighted to see that this project features the Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto, of whom I am a big fan. Pekka playing the violin in a red dress made of 550 metres of material in a fabulous concert hall – PERFECT for Sarah´s Music!

It was the first time I had met Pekka, we had a wonderful day together, what a talented and inspiring musician he is. He is also brave enough to try new things in our classical world and I respect him a lot for it. I also really enjoyed meeting and talking to Aamu Song, who has such a peaceful aura about her. One of my favourite moments of the shoot was lying in the dress pocket with her next to me. (you have to watch the episode to find out what THAT means…)

Once again, a great technical team to work with, my Sarah´s Music favourites – Chris, Henning, Martin and Jeanne, welcoming sound man Kurosh to the team too, and we always love filming at the Boulez Saal. We definitely saw red that day – but in a good way! Pekka wins the prize for the most original Horn Challenge, wouldn´t you agree?

Luxembourg, May 2018   Stefano Bollani, Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg

Inspiring children to love classical music as much as I do is one of the most fulfilling yet sometimes challenging parts of my job. So I was thrilled when Pascal Sticklies, head of Education at the Luxembourg Philharmonie, asked me to write and present a children´s concert all about the wonderful American composer George Gershwin. It will be easy, I thought, Gershwin´s music is so popular! Well, it was anything but easy, but I loved every moment, especially choreographing the Towel Dance and then trying it out on various godchildren and friends…

I loved my time in Luxembourg – the Philharmonie is a fantastic concert hall and the orchestra was welcoming and wonderful. And Stefano Bollani is a dream to do such a project with! I adore him.

A child came up to me after the concert, hugged me around the knees and says “I loved it!” – these are the moments in my job which make everything worthwhile. Enjoy `Hello Mr Gershwin´and please join in the dance at the end!

Thank you to Alfonso Salgueiro for the great photos!

Berlin, May 2018 – The Be Phil Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle, Stanley Dodds

“An experience of a lifetime” – this is how all of the musicians from the Be Phil Orchestra described this event when I interviewed them. And it truly was – for the musicians and for the audience! 101 musicians – all music lovers, not professionals, won an audition to take part in this very special orchestra. They travelled to Berlin and spent three days rehearsing, first with Stanley Dodds and then with Sir Simon Rattle. They came from all over the world – from Australia to Iceland to India to Trinidad and Tobago and it was wonderful to see how much they loved being part of this project and to watch them forging friendships for life.

I am very happy we could document this experience of a lifetime for Sarah´s Music, thanks to the team at the Digital Concert Hall for making it possible for us to co-film in the Philharmonie. It was also wonderful to be able to interview Sir Simon about it – I will miss him and all the magic he makes very much when he leaves the Berlin Philharmonic at the end of this season.

And, dear Be Phil musicians- it was great meeting to you and congratulations on a truly stunning Brahms 1. I know most of you had tears in your eyes at the end of it , I did too – your music-making really touched my heart!

Episode Extras photos courtesy of Monika Rittershaus

Alicante, Spain, April 2018 – Rudi Korp, Nury Guarnaschelli, musicians of the Brass Academy Alicante

I have been a visiting professor at the Brass Academy Alicante for several years now and have always loved my time there. I am so impressed with what the founders Nury Guarnaschelli and Rudi Korp have set up: high class brass teaching and playing in a wonderfully welcoming and very Spanish environment. I felt the whole world deserves to know about what they do so my recent trip there to teach turned into a Sarah´s Music programme.

My team and I loved our weekend there. It wasn’t easy juggling the teaching with the filming but we all managed to have a great time together. Gracias, dear Nury and Rudi, for all you do for our brass world and gracias to all the Brass Academy students for being so wonderful and patient with the cameras all weekend. Bravo for the great playing and thanks for the yummy paella. OLE!!

Boulez Saal, Berlin March 2018 – Guy Braunstein, Avi Avital, Dominic Oelze

I love Bach‘s Chaconne for solo violin. Who doesn‘t? It‘s one of the most recognisable pieces in the world and has inspired musicians and composers to arrange it for many different instruments and combinations of instruments.

So this project, “A Different Chaconne“ at the Boulez Saal in Berlin, jumped out at me when I was looking for ideas for Sarah‘s Music. Most of the musicians taking part were friends and colleagues of mine, so it was the perfect project. Thanks especially to Guy Braunstein for the original Chaconne and Sarah’s Music veteran Aci Avital for the most intimate Chaconne of the evening and for showing me how the Chaconne can sound on the horn…

We loved filming at the Boulez Saal last year when it opened and the filming this year coincided with it‘s first birthday. Happy Birthday Boulez Saal, Berlin is lucky to have you!