The Municipality of Trepuzzi, already engaged for years in good artistic, cultural and political practices on the preservation and promotion of the band world, will host four days, from 12 to 15 July, dedicated to band culture and training, thanks to the project Apollo Lands – “Network for Traditions and Heritage in Music”.
The work will start on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 mornings, at the Community Library “Bibliò” in Trepuzzi, with the music workshop “The traditional and contemporary band repertoire: inventory, analysis, performance”. The traditional band repertoire constitutes a heritage of considerable artistic interest that is in danger of being lost. Starting from the material of the Abbate Fund, recently acquired by the Conservatorio ‘Tito Schipa’ in Lecce, and from the ‘Fondo Nino Farì’, the workshop aims to create a learning path linked to the processes of management and knowledge of the repertoire up to the most current experiences: “it is important to train a new generation of musicians and musicologists who, supported by a scientific approach – which is as urgent as ever with respect to the band repertoire – will acquire specific techniques and methodologies of historical-musical investigation, in order to bring these scores back to light and allow them to be played correctly, freeing themselves from the imperfections and superficiality of approach that have too often burdened the repertoire of traditional band music. ” (Gioacchino Palma).
The workshop teachers will be Antonio Farì, Luisa Cosi, Domenico Zizzi, Giovanni Pellegrini, Giuseppe Gigante and Gioacchino Palma.
On Thursday 14 July, the Municipality of Trepuzzi will host the public meeting “The band after the storm. Promotion and protection of Puglia’s band heritage”. A unique opportunity to discuss and deepen, with teachers, insiders, participants in the workshop activities and institutional representatives, on the present and future of band culture, dialoguing on the themes and contents of the laboratory and workshop related to the INTERREG project.
On Friday 15, the training programme concludes with the workshop ‘Conducting in Cassarmonica during the festival: executive, interpretative and organisational aspects’, at the Community Library ‘Bibliò’ in Trepuzzi. Conducting a band in patronal contexts involves a multiplicity of aspects to be managed: rehearsals with musicians of different backgrounds and training, the relationship with the local authority and municipal associations, the ability to dialogue with administrators and organisers who are ‘not experts’ in the specific field of music, the difficulties of managing the event, marked by prohibitive and continuous timetables and performances, the phonic difficulties of playing outdoors (surrounded by a festive and noisy soundscape). And yet, over the decades, it has been possible to structure a true performing tradition that has been nourished by this articulated context, gradually consolidating over time as a peculiar form of art and social communication unlike any other. Numerous influential directors have demonstrated exceptional skills in the management of this open-air theatre. The workshop constitutes a unique opportunity to learn the ‘rudiments’ of a profession that combines, with the indispensable directorial competence, the no less important need to harmonise this competence with the particular aspects linked to the context of reference, which significantly modify the musical dictation. The Teachers involved are Francesco Muolo, Giuseppe Pascali and Giuseppe Rampino.