Amigos music association of São Lourenço held their annual general meeting on November 18 at the Centro Cultural São Lourenço.
The Amigos is an international group of around 110 members who support the musical activities at the Centro Cultural São Lourenço by underwriting the concerts which are regularly performed there. They also hold exhibitions by well known artists and sculptors.
Events of the 2010-2011 musical year, starting in July and ending in June, were reported on by Barry Shaw, committee president.
Yevgeny Sudbin, a young Russian pianist said to be “one of the greatest pianists of the 21st century” by the Daily Telegraph, played the opening concert of the year. This event was then followed by “other great concerts” including another Russian pianist, Katya Apekesheva.
“Then came one of the highlights of the Amigos’ musical year, the world famous pianist Piers Lane and the renowned clarinetist Michael Collins who gave two superb concerts,” said Barry Shaw.
He added that: “Soon after these concerts, the very much in demand Chinese pianist Sa Chen flew in from Beijing to give two amazing concerts.”
In June, the Amigos had a Latin American themed dinner to celebrate the Centro Cultural’s 30th anniversary, complete with tango dancers, cocktails, food and wine catered by Annelies Ruegebrink.
To complete the musical year, violinist Jeroen de Groot and pianist Bart van den Roer performed two concerts.
Following Barry Shaw’s presentation of events, Michael Savage, the Amigos’ committee honorary treasurer, spoke about the group’s sponsorships.
Last year, Joanna Ballmann, a young Portuguese pianist was chosen to be sponsored by the group for four years to attend the Conservatory in Cologne and present a concert.
Joanna graduated from the Conservatory and is now looking at touring Brazil to further her musical career professionally.
This year, 20-year old Ana Beatriz Ferreira is being sponsored for three years to study at the Royal College of Music in London. Ana has already graduated from the National Conservatory in Lisbon, graduating with the top classification.
A programme by Mozart and Liszt was performed by Ana at the annual meeting and the evening concluded with a supper by Marie Huber and her team.
Upcoming Christmas and New Year’s concerts will be by classical Portuguese guitar player Miguel Drago and Pedro Friao on December 28 and January 4.
For more information about the 2011/2012 concert programme, please visit www.amigos-de-musica.org or www.centroculturalsaolourenco.com. For concert bookings, please contact: 289 395 475.
