Having developed his musical career outside Chile, the Chilean composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist Mauricio Venegas-Astorga has always had a close interest in the external influences on the music, culture and politics of his country. He has very successfully mixed his own tradition with different musical styles and instruments from around the world and his compositions are a fresh and exciting example of this, showing that he is not afraid of experimenting and approaching different genres, blending Latin American and world music with Tango, Celtic, African and Indian traditions. In addition to his musicianship and skills as a singer and composer, Mauricio’s lyrics deliver a beautiful and strong message of freedom, peace and justice his words will not only touch your hearts but also your consciousness.
Mauricio
Venegas Astorga
Since settling in England in 1977 he has gained a reputation as one of the finest musicians to emerge from the Latin American folk tradition. He has worked and collaborated with a large number of important figures in the British, African, Indian and Latin American music scenes. These have included the internationally renowned guitarist, John Williams, the composers Richard Harvey and Graham Preskett, the traditional singer-songwriters Roger Watson and Robb Johnson, the Indian Santoor master Kiranpal Singh Deoora, the African drummer Musa Mboob, the Cuban composer Efrain Rios and the Chilean songwriter Jorge Campos.
As a composer Mauricio has written and participated in the creation of more than 30 albums of music for film and television and for Quimantu, with his compositions being featured in films and TV programmes such as Priest, The Honorary Consul, Noel, Best Laid Plans, Stuck On You, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Sex and The City, Law & Order, etc. Widely known for the specialist knowledge he has developed in Latin American and World Music, Mauricio has also contributed as an advisor and composer to a number of television and radio programmes including "Ritmo” and “Kaleidoscope” for BBC Radio 3 and “Music Makers” for BBC TV.
One of his most recent projects was his participation as a recording artist on Dave Arnold’s sound track for the last Bond movie Quantum of Solace. Whilst living in London Mauricio has maintained his artistic profile in Chile and was awarded the “Premio Municipal De Arte” in Coronel, his hometown, for his outstanding contribution to the music and culture of his country. He has also been twice awarded the “Fondo De La Música Award” Fondart by the Chilean Ministry of Culture. His 2001 Fondart award was for the composition and recording of his Cantata “Socavon” a work that blended western classical with traditional music and musicians to create a testimony to the lives and struggles of the coal miners from the south of Chile. In 2008 he received the award for “Trotasurdo”, a pioneering project aimed at promoting the understanding and use of music technology in composition in primary schools, making use of ambient sound recordings from urban and rural settings and combining classical instruments with traditional ones, mixed with samples, beats and loops.
Rachel Pantin
Rachel Pantin is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and completed the Post-graduate Performance and Communication Skills course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Having studied violin with leading violinists and teachers including Howard Davis, Erich Gruenberg and David Takeno, she has developed an extensive range of experience as a performer from classical groups such as London Sinfonietta and Opera Factory to world music including the Palestinian group Sabreen and the South American group Quimantu.
For a number of years she toured Britain, Europe and North America performing specially commissioned solo works for violin for several theatre and dance companies. Concentrating in recent years on developing crossovers between the Classical and World Music genres she has worked on a number of recording projects with Quimantu, gaining much recognition for her contribution to the fine sound of the group.
As a composer she has worked on scores for theatre and dance companies, original music, orchestrations and arrangements for world music groups and original works for schools and educational publications.
Laura
Venegas-Rojas
Laura Venegas-Rojas attended Theatretrain from the ages of 6-18 developing her skills in singing, theatre, drama and dance, performing annually in West End Theatres such as The Old Vic and The Palladium and participating in international festivals in Italy and Croatia. She then went on to graduate from The International School of Screen Acting.
Her first instrument is her voice, but following the lead of her father Mauricio, is fast becoming a multi-instrumentalist playing Kala Bass and Latin-American percussion – especially instruments such as the cajón and bombo. The fast and intricate dance rhythms of musical styles such as Festejo (Afro-Peruvian) and Chacarera (Argentina) are a particular interest
As a singer she has performed live with Quimantu at various UK venues over the past 10 years and recorded vocals for a number of the group’s albums including tracks at the famous Egrem studios in Cuba with the “Raices Cubanas” ensemble for the album Mitimaes and more recently featuring on the album Cantos…
Jobine Siekman
Jobine Siekman is currently finishing a Masters of Performance degree with Richard Lester as an Irene Hanson Scholar supported by The Royal College of Music. Before completing her Bachelors of Music with First Class Honours at the RCM with Melissa Phelps she learned with Lucia Swarts and Dmitri Ferschtman in the Netherlands and Harro Ruijsenaars in Sweden. In 2016 Jobine won the third prize in the finals of the National Cello Competition of the Cellobiennale Amsterdam, and the Anna Shuttleworth Prize in the RCM cello competition. Jobine has played solo and chamber music concerts in the Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. She plays a Thomas Dodd cello from 1800, provided by National Musical Instruments Foundation.
Emma Purslow
British Violinist and violist Emma Purslow is a recent graduate of the Royal College of Music, where she studied with Daniel Rowland and Sasha Rozhdestvensky. She is a passionate chamber musician who has performed extensively throughout the UK and abroad, including performances at the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, and the Ambassador’s Residence in Paris. Emma also loves solo performance, and the last year has included recitals at the Royal Albert Hall, St James Piccadilly and Leeds International Concert Series.
She also enjoys a freelance orchestral career performing regularly with orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and also leads the Street Orchestra of London. Described by the Guardian as “truly uplifting” this 40-piece ensemble brings live performance to those unable to access it.
Guest Players
Juan Contento
Juan was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia and started his musical studies at "Taller musical Francisco Cristancho", one of the most important music conservatories in the city. At 18 he moved to London where he obtained a diploma in popular music performance with emphasis on guitar and subsequently completed a Bachelor of arts degree in Creative Musicianship. Currently he is frontman, producer and composer of the duo "The Indios" and works as a freelance musician, songwriter and producer.
Mark Troop
Mark Troop, pianist, broadcaster and writer, is the founder of The Chamber Music Company, a creative performance group. Through its multidimensional work CMC extends the range of classical European traditions into a broader 21st Century arena – involving creative artists from the Far East and Latin America, and theatre, dance, film and puppetry as well as music.
Their first festival, the CMC Summer Solstice, fused classical, new music and jazz in a vibrant Conway Hall, which became the Ronnie Scott’s of Classical Music (The Guardian). The Latin American Roadshow, a live version of Troop’s ground-breaking Radio 3 programmes, explored Iberian and Latin America culture through music, mime, dance, performance poetry and art.
The CMC Rare Music Series inaugurated at the Purcell Room. Its mission was to restore unjustly neglected classical masterworks to public view. The Second Glance Festival of new music was a festival of second performances bringing new music more generally to public attention. The festival also toured British new music in South Africa.
In 2008 Mark Troop consolidated his work with East Asian musicians by forming Yin Yang Collective – a collaborative East-west band featuring Chinese, Korean and Japanese instruments, traditions and musicians. Their work together addresses the cultural collision of these diverse but thoroughly compatible cultures, and presents it before the public. YYC have given four sell-out concerts welcoming the Year of the Horse for Chinese New Year 2014 and the Ram in 2015.
For ten years Mark Troop and Patricia Rozario have run a teaching foundation in India, empowering a new generation of students.