With 200 musicians on stage, Jaime Martínez captivated France

What a proud teacher! 

World Premiere

To the rhythm of oboes, bassoons, French bagpipes and a lot of Caribbean flavor, maestro Jaime Martínez, head of oboes at Filarmed, presented in France the world premiere of his work Au clair de la Lune sous le ciel des caraïbes (In the moonlight under the Caribbean sky) commissioned by the French Federation of Double Reed Instruments (FFAD).

The long-awaited premiere was made for an ensemble of two hundred European musicians performing oboe, love oboe, English horn, bassoon, contrabassoon and cornemeuses françaises (French bagpipes) made up of children, young people, professionals and amateurs, from orchestras, music schools , conservatories and associations of double reed instruments. The percussion – made up of instruments of Latin origin such as maracas, harpsichord, among others – was provided by Juan Andrés Martínez, son of maestro Jaime. The Venezuelan oboist played within the ensemble and performed an improvisation in the middle of his work. “Captivating the European public in the Latin American style was the surprise for this concert!” recalls the composer, who highlights that it had several social components; First, because it brought the public closer to this family of instruments and aroused the interest and motivation of children and young people.

“The children's song “Au Claire de la Lune”, deeply rooted in the French people and known throughout the world, was the basis that inspired me to compose these tropical variations; attributed to Jean Baptiste Lully, creator of the French baroque style par excellence and who, together with the Sun King of France Louis XIV, and his father Louis XIII, did so much for the development of double reed instruments with large ensembles like the one heard by the concert attendees,” said Jaime Martínez.

The presentation was under the direction of the French oboist and conductor, Maestro Pascal Zamora, who also works as English horn soloist of the National Orchestra of Lyon, friend and classmate of Jaime Martínez at the National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance of Paris. The premiere of the work took place on October 22 at the Maurice Ravel Auditorium in Lyon - considered one of the most emblematic stages in France - at the opening concert of the European Reunions of Double Reed Instruments-Lyon, 2021 Next, Maestro Jaime gave a lecture on “The oboe in Caribbean popular music.” Filarmed's composer and principal oboist was sponsored by the FFDA and the De Gourdon-F.Lorée oboe factory in Paris.

“I think the audience immediately identified with the work, because 'Au Clair de la lune' is a very well-known children's song. The audience understood that my message is a fresh and sunny cultural bridge between France and the Caribbean, a bet on the democratization of these instruments that are still little known, a festival of double reed instruments. A historic moment because it was the first time that these rhythms were made with this instrumentation, imagine, a Colombian cumbia played by French cornemeuses!”, explained the oboist.

Caribbean party sounded in Europe

“It was a very special evening, for which I specially composed these tropical variations with representative rhythms of our Caribbean countries.” Jaime Martínez.

For Maestro Jaime it was a sunny and joyful trip, from France to his French Antilles, passing through Cuba, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Colombia — where he currently resides — and which ended in his beloved country, Venezuela. Finally, he added that it was a “party” in Lyon to the rhythm of mambo.

Filarmed Entrepreneurship

The Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra supports the entrepreneurship of its musicians to have other musical experiences in the country and around the world. That is, we open the artistic panorama that exists around symphonic music to enhance their complementary skills to their professional practice.

For Maestro Jaime, an orchestra cannot be just an instrument that plays music, it must be much more than that: it must be a school, an academy, a university, where its members are given freedom to develop their talents and abilities. .