Latin American trio joins WSO quartet for concert

Miami Herald

09-07-2025

A Wichita Symphony Orchestra-sponsored concert this week could serve as an introduction to a type of music that may be new to even the most seasoned ear.
The Alejandro Brittes Quartet will join with a WSO string quartet to present Chamamé, which mixes Argentinian and Brazilian folk rhythms with classical music.
In an email interview, Brittes talked about the music and the concert.
Q: What drew you to Chamamé, both as a listener and a performer?
A: I was born into a Chamamé cradle, immersed in an environment where music was always the soul of our home, especially Chamamé. From an early age, my parents took me to dances, even as a baby, in the Moses basket. I would stay there, listening intently to the chords that filled the air while they danced, immersed in that sound, which became the soundtrack of my life. Chamamé was my lullaby.
It was love at first sight, a deep and immediate connection with this music. My earliest memories are of a huge accordion in front of me while the musicians, who passed through my house – my father, who was a manager of musicians coming from the countryside of Argentina to Buenos Aires, always hosted them – played and rehearsed nearby. I was surrounded by musicians from the moment I can remember.
And from the very beginning, I knew I wanted to be a musician, too. I remember picking up vinyl album covers and pretending to play an accordion, feeling like part of that magic. With my toy brass guitar, I would accompany, in my imagination, the musicians' rehearsals.
This deep love for music and for Chamamé is what has guided me to this day. At 12, my artistic godfather, Fito Ledesma, gifted me an accordion. With it, I began my musical journey, doing what I love most: celebrating Chamamé.
Q: What are its characteristics, compared to other genres of music?
A: This is a topic I love to talk about, especially the elements that gave rise to this genre that I now have the opportunity to share in the United States.
Chamamé is a genre of music that connects and transcends. It represents the positive encounter of two cultures: the musicality and cosmogony of the Guarani indigenous people and the Baroque music taught in the Jesuit reductions by the priests. We can say that Chamamé is a Latin American reinvention, with a trajectory of 400 years of formation, being a genre that is built through collective memory and oral tradition. The rhythm, with its 35 million admirers in southern Brazil, the Argentine coast, Paraguay, northern Uruguay, and part of Bolivia, is an integral part of the identity and life of the people from where I come.
Chamamé has some beautiful peculiarities in its formation that I would like to share. The Guaranis are deeply musical. When a child is born, they perform rituals in an anti-clockwise direction so that their gods and the universe send a melody, which will be the name that the child will carry throughout their life. In other words, music comes before everything, and only then do they give the child an earthly name. In the aspect of the connection between the universe and the earth, the Guaranis sing in high tones to connect with the universe and dance by stamping their feet on the ground, using percussion instruments to communicate with Mother Earth. …
Chamamé, I believe, is the result of a process of collective election, fueled by collective memory and ancestral elements, which for some reason, makes sense for life, in all its forms. Chamamé is, therefore, one of the few genres — of course, others may serve the same purpose — but it is a music through which we can still connect with the universe and transcend, without losing its historical relevance and position in the music market.
Q: What can we look for in your concert with the WSO string quartet?
A: First of all, for me, André and Carlos, it is an honor to collaborate with the Wichita Symphony. In fact, we are very excited about this moment. I believe that this meeting will be an incredible experience in which we will explore together the repertoire of '(L)ESTE,' an original album of ours, with adaptations of arrangements and also creation of new arrangements by harpsichordist Fernando Cordella, who is one of the great names of Latin American Baroque, and we have been performing this beautiful concert in Brazil with an ensemble composed of harpsichord, violins, double bass, viola da gamba, cello, oboe, accordion, seven-string guitar and percussion.
What we can expect from this concert is a vibrant connection, where all of us and the Wichita Symphony quartet will do our best so that the audience can experience a little of the beauty of Chamamé and transcend with us. We are very excited about what is to come!
Q: Is it a contrast to have Chamamé music with a string quartet or is it a natural marriage of styles?
A: Certainly, it is a natural marriage! I'd like to tell you that the first chamamés were recorded with orchestras. Only later, with the great European immigration of the 19th century and the arrival of the accordion, did Chamamé begin to be played and recorded with guitar, accordion, bass and double bass.
This naturalness also relates to the historical aspect: In the Jesuit missions, the Guaranis formed orchestras and toured Europe. They were, by the way, excellent musicians, composers and luthiers of Baroque instruments. We had a great battle here that led to the destruction of the missions, but what was learned remained with the survivors, who applied all the knowledge they had gained and kept small orchestras in the villages, towns and communities.
Of course, it was difficult to transport an orchestra from one settlement to another, and with the arrival of the accordion and its versatility, the genre began to take on its current form.
But I dare say that Chamamé is returning to its origins, being played with classical instruments, while still preserving the popular essence and the instruments that are part of the genre's current identity.
Q: What are your projects in the next few months?
A: We have some projects in sight. Soon, upon arriving in Brazil, I will have several shows with the renowned accordionist Raúl Barboza, who, in my opinion, is the most important Chamamé accordionist, and part of the genre's old guard. Also, in August, we will hold the second edition of the Noite Chamamé Festival in the city of Erechim, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
In September, we will have three concerts with the Orquestra Sinfônica de Campo Grande. After that, I will have several concerts with the trio, and we plan to take the '(L)ESTE' concert to Argentina in October and November. At the beginning of next year, we will return to the United States for a small tour.
If you go
Wichita Symphony Orchestra with Alejandro Brittes Trio
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 14
Where: Somewhere Works, 235 N. Emporia
Tickets: $29 for general admission, from wichitasymphony.org, 316-267-7658 or the WSO box office at Century II