Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) invites audiences to explore the brilliance of Brazilian/Portuguese composer José Maurício Nunes Garcia in two performances this spring (12 March, West Road Concert Hall Cambridge; 13 March, Milton Court Concert Hall London).
This special programme sheds light on a lesser-known yet remarkable figure in classical music history, highlighting Nunes Garcia’s place within the 18th-century classical tradition in the company of his heroes, Mozart and Haydn.
On the other side of the Atlantic from Haydn and Mozart, José Maurício Nunes Garcia was creating music of striking originality, rising to prominence as one of the brightest stars of Brazilian and Portuguese music.
CEO John McMunn commented: “As a mixed-race composer in colonial Brazil, Nunes Garcia’s achievements are all the more extraordinary given the challenges he must have faced. His sublime music reveals a profound understanding of the classical idiom, making him a natural counterpart to his better-known European contemporaries.”
AAM’s programme offers a rare opportunity to hear Nunes Garcia’s music performed in the modern era. His works, including the Overture in D major and the Litany of the Sorrows of Our Lady, are presented alongside Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto (with Katherine Spencer) and the Ave verum corpus, as well as Haydn’s Divertimento in G major.
Directed from the harpsichord by Laurence Cummings, AAM brings its characteristic energy and insight to this compelling evening celebrating a composer whose time in the spotlight is long overdue.
Book now at https://aam.co.uk/concerts/transatlantic-classical-masters/