”Rosas ao Verde Mar”, a program featuring two of the greatest names in Brazilian popular music: Dorival Caymmi and Angenor “Cartola” de Oliveira. Also on the program are some purely instrumental moments, with choruses by Brazilian composers such as Chiquinha Gonzaga and Lina Pesce.

Arrangements for voice and string quartet by Fernando De Almeida Barros

The Freestyle Classics show is the result of an unexpected encounter between two artistic groups that are well known in their field: the Freestyle Lab collective and the Akhtamar Quartet.

The aim of this project is to create links between two artistic and cultural domains that seem to be opposed to each other: classical music and freestyle dance. Through performances, the Freestyle Classics concept breaks artistic codes, advocates diversity and exchange between artists and proves that by joining forces, we can create new sensations and emotions.

This exchange between freestyle culture, a street art par excellence, and classical music, too often accessible for a privileged audience, allows us to gather around the same event a very varied public. Through this link, the artists wish to bring classical music to the streets and bring urban culture to the classical stages.

Our show “Classical music, As You Like It!” is a concept that offers the public the chance to become a musical maestro, through learning 101 anecdotes about composers and their pieces! What would you like to listen to today? It’s your choice!

A story lies behind every piece of music. By letting the public draw names out of a hat, the quartet renders each performance a unique concert. The fun and playful atmosphere created through the musician’s interactions with the audience allows them to discover more about classical music in an original way.

Each piece the quartet plays forms a link with either literature, painting, or the history of an era or a country. Drawn by luck, whichever piece is then accompanied by a short text or illustration, painting or musical explanation, sometimes a historical account… These elements guide the listening experience and stir the imagination. Time and space can quite simply fall away! Some of the most well-known artistic works are used as guiding tools, like certain films, pictures and buildings. This use of association allows for an incredibly clear understanding of the musical work at hand.