International Festival starts this Sunday, the 12th, and runs until January 25th with more than 200 performances, including concerts, a rope quartet program, operas and MPB shows; Music professionals and students from 27 nationalities participate in the event
the Spanish work “en aranjuez con tu amor”, A musical performance by students from African countries and a tribute to the singer Elis Regina are the highlights that the Santa Catarina International Music Festival (Femusc) prepared for the opening of the event, which takes place this Sunday, January 12, starting at 8:30 pm. FEMUSC, considered the biggest school festival in Latin America, continues until the 25th, with more than 200 free shows at Scar, the main cultural center in Jaraguan..
First and most famous work by the composer Joaquin Rodrigo, “En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor” will feature the participation of the oboist and artistic director of Femusc, conductor Alex Klein, and the harp teacher Rita Costanzi. The composition, originally written for classical guitar and orchestra, is from 1939, and premiered in Barcelona the following year. The work was written in Paris and reflects the gardens of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, the spring residence of King Philip II, from the second half of the 16th century..
Following, students from three African countries – São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea Bissau and Mozambique – present themselves in a musical number in order to represent the culture of the continent. Students arrive at FEMUSC for the first time.
An online crowdfunding personally promoted by the festival’s artistic director was held to help the trumpet player from São Tomé and Príncipe, Clismar Carvalho, manage to come to Brazil. “A happiness to have these musicians with us in this 20th edition of ours, a great achievement for FEMUSC that wins in diversity and inclusion, one of our main missions”, says conductor Alex Klein.
The opening ends with a tribute to the singer Elis Regina, considered one of the greatest voices in Brazil. the tribute to the eternal “Pimentinha”, which would have turned 80 in 2025, It was suggested by the pianist and coordinator of MPB Center, Marcelo Ghelfi. “We will open with an instrumental song closely linked to Elis Regina and we will still have “O Boto”, by Tom Jobim, E  “Canto de Ossanha”, by Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes. eight Songs from Elis Regina’s repertoire will be part of the show, which will feature singer Livia Nestrovski as the main interpreter.
Loving
“En Aranjuez com Tu Amor” is part of the CD “Amoroso”, with songs for Oboé and Harpa, recorded by Alex Klein and Rita Costanzi for Parma Records. “It is the most significant of all, the most elaborate, the most difficult to prepare, and the longest”, says the conductor about the song, track 13 of the album. The CD, released in 2022, has already been downloaded more than 2.5 million times and is considered one of the best received by the label.
about FEMUSC
In 2025, FEMUSC Presents 750 works that will be carried out by students and music professionals from 27 nationalities. In addition to concerts and MPB shows, the festival brings back the rope quartet program. The long-awaited opera program will include the classic “Madama Butterfly”, by Puccini and the opera I-Juca-Pirama by the composer from Jaraguan, Attico Rubini, inspired by the homonymous poems by the Indianist poet Gonçalves Dias. They mainly happen at SCAR, but there will also be, as in previous years, a social roadmap in schools and hospitals. For more information and complete schedule, visit www.femusc.com.br
