28 Years of Great Music
To all Amigas/os
From Helga Hampton NEWSLETTER
March 26, 2019
Dear Amigos,
This Newsletter will come to you in the form of a “Thank you !” note. I would like to share with you my gratitude for so many wonderful things that have come our way recently.
First of all and with great emphasis, let’s thank our main sponsor, the real estate company Quinta Properties, aka QP (Savills), for their continuing allegiance with the Amigos. They have over the years been our major financial supporter and our programming would have been noticeably constrained were it not for their generosity. Thank you, ladies, and our best wishes for your next business expansion and the opening of a third office in the centre of Loule, “Quinta Properties Country”.
The Aparthotel Val Verde in Almancil, whose owners (long-time Amigos) have counted among our sponsors, have to be thanked again for making accommodation for some of our musicians available, free of charge, and even during high season. Thank you very much also in the name of our artists who really appreciate the comfort and luxury of Val Verde.
Thank you to our Os Agostos hosts who always make us feel welcome, who spoil us with imaginative catering, who prepare the auditorium with chairs and either A/C or heating for our comfort and who recently took such excellent and warm care of Alissa Firsova when she was their guest at OA during her week of inspiration. The composition the Amigos commissioned from her is well on the way to being created – probably to be called “Algarvia” – and will have its world premiere as part of our June concerts. I`d also like to thank those Amigos who participated in the entertaining of Alissa and her fiancé, Matthias, in many different ways.
Thank you to the Carp Family who allowed us to share in the celebration of their father`s and Dorris` husband`s life, and the inspiration this also was to our March musicians.
Jeroen de Groot on violin and Bart van de Roer on piano gave us two unforgettable music evenings. Both fully packed houses witnessed such astounding virtuosity as well as refined, elegant feeling and delicate expression in a most varied programme of music. The enthusiastic reception by the audience combined with the meaningful atmosphere of these evenings was generously rewarded with several encores. Jeroen wrote before returning to Holland: “The Amigos are a great inspiration which gave me the feeling of total freedom so I could perform with all I have.”
So, my thanks also go to all of you for being such an attentive and appreciative audience – have you ever before sat in a concert where there was not a single cough or sniffles to be heard between movements?
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Now lets look forward to our events still waiting for us during the 2018/19 season:
Our next musician is Katya Apekisheva, who is not completely new to the Amigos, having played for us twice already. This beautiful Russian pianist is now living in the UK but is very busy internationally and is a regular participant at Piers Lane`s Piano Festival and Competition in Australia. She will come for our pre-Easter Semana Santa concerts on Tuesday, April 16th and Thursday, April 18th. Katya will, befittingly, bring us a great classical programme of works by Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin and Chopin on Tuesday, and Prokofiev, Schubert, Haydn, Janacek and Rachmaninov on Thursday.
May 2019: Tuesday, May 14th and Thursday, May 16th, we welcome the German pianist and cellist, Holger Groschopp and Adele Bitter.
May 21st, 2019 we will be giving a Birthday Party for Maestro Paul Crossley who asked to celebrate his 75th birthday with the Amigos! Great honour!
You will be receiving an Invitation from me within the next few days with all details.
June 2019: Tuesday, June 11th and Thursday, June 13th, we conclude the 2018/19 concert season with performances by Alissa Firsova, piano and Daniel Rowland, violin.
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PLEASE NOTE: Housekeeping Rules – I am compelled to repeat these more strongly than ever !!!
1. Reservations are absolutely necessary, even for all active members ! Everyone, including Amigos, who come to OA without a firm reservation will probably not get a seat, as we are usually fully booked.
2. Make your email reservations as soon as you plan to attend certain concerts. However, PLEASE don’t make them more than one month in advance – we have noticed that earlier ones tend to get forgotten and then not cancelled.
3. Cancellations are also absolutely necessary as the liberated seats can then be sold to the public.
4. Newest Rule: Please turn your phones off during the concert ! We have had complaints about the bother of brightly lit screens.
Always make your reservations by email to: reservasconcertos@gmail.com
You will receive confirmation, but please cancel as soon as you know you cannot attend.
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The Amigo Mid-Summer Night Party !! Have you been waiting to see this announcement in one of my Newsletters?? Well, here it is. We shall end the 2018/19 season with a party to take place at Os Agostos in cool early evening on Saturday, June 22nd, 2019. Again I reserve giving details for a later date, suffice it to say: There will be music !!! Our sponsoree, Tiago Rosario, now a piano student at the Music Hoch-Schule in Munster, Germany, will be giving us a demonstration of his progress and I can already promise you a good surprise. This young man is going places !!!
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For any and all questions, or good suggestions you might have, please contact me anytime via email.
Helga Hampton
President
ASSOCIAҪÃO DE AMIGOS
DE MUSICA at Os Agostos
E-mail: helga.hampton@btinternet.com
www: http://www.amigos-de-musica.org